Prodigy
by Luchia13
Summary: Heero Yuy, 17 year old doctor of Blowing Stuff Up, gets his mindboggling equation solved by an underachieving high school student. What's a prodigy to do? 1x2, of course! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING AS OF RIGHT NOW.
1. High School Tour

A/N: First! This is in competition with a few other fics to see which I write. PLEASE go check those out, and tell me which you'd like me to do. Well, eventually I'll do all of 'em, but hey. Time's money, and all of these at the same time? (laughs) Not gonna happen.

So. Welcome to Prodigy! This is extremely loosely based on Good Will Hunting. As in, EXTREMELY, or barely, and I probably shouldn't even mention it. But hey, credit still stands. This is rather serious, too, even though I throw humor in, since I'm me. Ermm...yeah...

Warnings: Profanity, Alarm Abuse, and The Horror That Is Relena, but she DOES get bashed, so it's all good.

Disclaimer: Not mine and all that.

Prodigy

Chapter 1

High School Tour

x---x

_Beep_.

His thoughts were fuzzy. Something annoying kept tickling in the back of his thoughts. Something annoying kept beeping at him.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

He groaned. Something about that sound just made him want to explode its inventor's throat. Whoever created the cursed electronic irritation would feel his wrath very, very soon.

_Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep._

Angry, blurry blue eyes opened to slits.

_BEEP!_

He slammed his fist into the black plastic contraption, pleased when it made a quick, pleading, quivery noise. Smirking, he yanked the alarm clock from the wall, tearing the cord, and pulled his head up from the desk, a pen-covered piece of paper falling from his cheek.

_Bweem..._

So helpless. It was such a scared little device from hell.

Heero stood up from his desk's wheeled chair, taking the petrified black device, cord and all, with him as he strode purposely towards the corner of the lab. Grabbing a beaker of his newfound love, Acetic Acid, he dropped a moderate amount onto the loathsome gadget, watching with pleasure as it melted away. With practiced hands, he avoided the rapidly decaying areas and tossed it into a large bag labeled "Biohazard". The alarm clock gave one last piteous squeal.

_Beeee..._

The acid cut it off, and his smirk almost grew all the way into a sadistic smile as he returned to his padded chair. His head slammed down, and the chocolate-haired boy was out for good.

The now forgotten alarm clock's red lights, displaying nine thirty am, fizzled and died as the seventeen-year-old Heero Yuy, with a masters in physics and a PhD in chemistry, not to mention a much-neglected bachelor's in art, dozed off once more in his private laboratory.

x---x

Duo Maxwell yawned again, and it was only Quatre constantly whacking him upside the head that kept the braided boy awake.

"Missster Maxwell, if you cannot keep yourself awake, feel free to go wait in the bus," the teacher hissed, cat-eye glasses making her chubby face look almost buggy. Her two pigtails didn't help, either, with how they seemed to spring up like wilting antennae.

"Can I really," Duo pleaded, and both Quatre and Hilde whacked him again. "OW! God DAMMIT!"

"DUO! You will not utter another word, or I'll personally see to it that you never get to college, because I will have KILLED you," Mrs. Vermette, the teacher with a supposedly nonexistent husband since the violet-eyed boy had no idea why anyone would ever marry the crone, tried to restrain herself. Duo, being the eternal pain-in-the-ass he is, grinned.

"Don't hate me 'cuz I'm beautiful," he cooed. Vermette stood rigid, and suddenly her hand snapped out to point in another direction.

"WALK! I swear if I see anything other than your back-COVERED BACK-I'll have you sent back to whatever hell-hole you came from, you ANTI-CHRIST," Vermette was shrieking now. Duo couldn't help but wince. Wow. Anti-Christ. That stung. Shrugging, Duo walked in the direction the teacher had pointed the senior to.

"See you, guys. Don't get in too much trouble while I'm gone," Duo called back over to Quatre and Hilde, smart enough to not turn around. When Mrs. Vermette began literally growling, he quickened his pace.

The lab was actually pretty interesting without The Bug's constant play-by-play of incorrect information. Walls were decorated with awards and experiments, from psychology to physics. The complex was huge, and on this Friday morning the swarm of intellectuals made even its current size seem too small for the population. Interns squeezed past him, five people abreast in a four-person hall.

Apparently, their tour route was the least happening place in the joint. At ten o'clock, the place was swamped, and avoiding the crowd soon lead him to a thin hallway so deserted it was almost scary. However, the large red sign above the door proclaiming "DESTRUCTION EXPERIMENTATION" perked his interest, where most would have backed away very, very slowly.

Grinning, Duo opened the door, and was astonished at what he saw.

The lab was, to say the least, haphazard. Chemicals and random bits of...something were strewn everywhere. It was on the counters, the wind tunnel, the bizarre glass machine in the far corner. It was even on the intern quietly napping at the desk, looking very proud of himself.

Duo eyed the boy warily, but soon his eyes slipped over to the whiteboards that circled around the room. Every single one was full of equations, and the very center one, he noted, had a very blank square in the lower right corner.

The curious side of him rose. Sure, he was a proud underachiever with a C average and no plans whatsoever to ever get any better. But, he was like that just because he saw no need to do work he already knew. Why go to school when you already know everything? He'd never understood why Quatre bothered with it.

He could follow the calculations easily, and with a triumphant smile he doodled in the answer, a little braided smiley-face next to it for good measure. On a second thought, Duo wrote a little message on it. "See line 174. You put ClO3! What were you thinking?! Love ya, and have a good day!"

Feeling truly proud of himself, Duo Maxwell strode out of the lab, only stopping to stare at the mutilated remains of an alarm clock lying in the biohazards bag. With a quiet chuckle, he met back up with the rest of his class.

Mrs. Vermette was ignoring him, so he couldn't be happier. Well, a million dollars and being able to drive to the damn field trip would have, but solving a big problem? Duo was positively glowing inside, even though he made sure to act mopey, just to annoy Hilde and The Bug.

x----x

A/N: OOOO! What's gonna happen now? It's short, yes, but that's because it's a Chapter 1. Well, thanks for reading, and please review and tell me if you'd like me to continue THIS fic, instead of one of the others.


	2. Waking Up and Singing Threats

A/N: WOW! I never expected that kind of feedback from just the first chapter...eleven reviews first entry! That's just cool. You guys rock. Originally, this was gonna take WAAY longer, but hey. And, get used to Heero destroying stuff. It's his job, and he's got a LOT of pent up anger. Not a good combination for lifeless annoyances.

Alrighty, so Duos' Threat Song? _Another One Bites the Dust_, by Queen. It's somewhat obvious, though, what with it saying the title a few times. It'll be resurfacing every now and then, so watch for that in upcoming chapters.

Other (Not-Normal) Warnings: Umm...inappropriate thoughts? That's about all out of the ordinary I can think of right now...

Prodigy

Chapter 2

Waking Up and Singing Threats

x---x

He stared.

And blinked.

And stared again.

_See line 147. You put ClO3! What were you thinking?_

_Love ya, and have a good day!_

He blinked again. It didn't go away. He rubbed his eyes, he shook his head, he even whacked his forehead with a clipboard. The words remained.

Heero frowned. Someone had come in his lab. And read his life's work, the equation that lined the walls and his brain. And they had solved it.

And they loved him.

Doctor Yuy's head slammed against the desk again. He didn't even want to think about the smiley face. God knows what the thing sticking off its head was.

The lab's door opened with the hiss of whatever that non-slamming pump thing was called. He hated that thing. All it did was annoy the shit out of him; he'd rather have the door slam than that horrific snake impression.

"You solved it," Trowa's voice echoed through the modestly large lab, and Heero glared at his colleague. Even though Trowa Barton was only an intern, he was a rising zoology star, and one of the few people who could intrude on the Lab of Blowing Shit Up without having acid or explosives thrown at them.

"No," Heero snarled, and stalked towards the hissing mechanism. He ripped it off the door, and quickly threw the annoyance into a clear shatterproof case. Slamming the door shut, he filled the box up with oxygen, and when that was done (and Trowa had backed up a considerable distance, having seen this done once to a faulty keyboard) Heero, smirking, threw a match in.

All that was left was a charred little ball of melted plastic, and one very satisfied scientist.

"Who solved it, then," Trowa asked, and Heero frowned, picking the blob out of the case and throwing it effortlessly into the biohazards bag again.

"I don't know," Heero stated, running a hand through his abused, chaotic hair. "I'm going to check the surveillance video." Trowa raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"You have a camera system in here," he asked, looking around to find any visible indications of such. Heero nodded.

"Hidden camera system," he said, barely restraining another smirk. Trowa smiled. Typical Heero.

Said brunette was quickly jockeying his computer like nobody else Trowa had ever seen. The young man had at least seven passwords into anything, but blurred through them. Heero was one of the few people who had to wait for the processor to catch up to them, and had to wait for at least five minutes. Soon enough, Heero was staring at the screen.

"Who was it? Chang," Trowa asked, and Heero shook his head. Taking it as an invitation, Trowa peeked over his friend's shoulder, to gape at the figure leaning over the whiteboards. The girl had a long braid, and was tracing Heero's equations with her index finger. She reached a line, and shook her head.

Finally, after the girl reached the area left blank for the final answer, she picked up a red marker, doodled in the answer, along with the message, and now clearly braided smiley.

Heero froze the video on a frame. It gave an almost eerily clear picture of the culprit. They both stared at the boy- it was obviously a boy, since he was running so fast his shirt showed clearly he was flat-chested, and his face, although beautiful, was undeniably male. Finally, Trowa spoke.

"Now what," he asked. He knew Heero's world had to have been shaken at the core, not only because the person who solved his equation wasn't HIM, but also because the boy who did do it was his age. Heero Yuy was always the best, because he HAD to be the best.

Heero finally broke his silence. "We talk to him," he stated, and printed out the screen quickly. Trowa once more quirked an eyebrow up at his friend.

We?

x---x

"Please, Duo, would you sit down and shut up," his English teacher asked politely, and the rest of the class giggled at the braided boy, who was lounging on three desks pulled together with his hands crossed behind his head. Violet eyes glinting almost violently, he smirked at the teacher.

"Just 'cuz you said please," he said, seemingly cordial as he fell into one of the plastic and plyboard desks. The teacher smiled at him.

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying, look at that line again. 'Fair to foul, foul to fair.' What does that mean," he asked, glasses slightly shining in the cruel fluorescent lighting. Like any high school class, the students shrunk further down into their chairs. Frowning, the teacher noticed Duo was lounging again, this time on the chairs instead of the wooden surfaces. "Duo. Please share your thoughts."

"Don't have any," he shrugged, grinning at the teacher's exasperation.

"Dumbass," Steve, the annoying so-called 'genius' in front of him, muttered. As the only idiot truly stupid enough to insult Duo Maxwell, he was rated on the braided boy's Intelligence Meter as a 2. On a scale of 1-100. Duo sighed right as the teacher did.

There was a knock on the door, and the English teacher quickly peeked out of the door's built-in, reinforced window. With a stern "Don't do anything stupid", he walked out to do whatever teachers did in the hall.

"_Steve walks warily down the street,  
with the brim pulled way down low.  
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,  
machine guns ready to go."_

Duo began to sing, watching Steve's blood slowly drain out of his face (and most likely down into his pants). Of course the idiot knew all the stories about the Maxwell boy; he was practically a legend, as the only student in the high school to have been in juvie for three months.

Everyone knew the reason, too, although none dared speak it where there was even a remote possibility of their topic rounding the corner. Sadistic legends could be very, very violent when being spoken of. _  
  
"Are you ready?  
Are you ready for this?  
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?  
Out of the doorway the bullets rip  
To the sound of the beat."_

"Duo, relax," Hilde finally snapped, noticing how her near-brother's fingers had been slipping deeper into his braid. As one of the very few people who knew what the teenager actually kept in the plait, she was also one of the few who could snap at Duo without losing a finger.

The violet-eyed boy blinked, and his malicious grin faded into a look of bewilderment. "Sorry, Hilde," Duo apologized. "No fighting in school. Probation. Got it." The shorthaired tomboy nodded offhandedly, and went back to her over-analyzing of Macbeth. As an afterthought, Duo turned to look at Steve, who was huddled in his seat, looking at him with terrified brown eyes.

Being Duo, he smirked and went back to lounging, just as the teacher walked in with a hurried expression on his face.

"Mr. Maxwell, if you would join me out in the hall," the teacher asked, and with a melodramatic sigh, Duo clambered to his feet and strode towards the door.

"_Hey, I'm gonna get you too!  
Another one bites the dust!"_

Steve moaned as Duo sung out his chosen last refrain en transit, and with a truly vicious grin the soloist walked out of the door.

"Shit," Duo cursed, and barely held himself from bolting down the hall. Standing in front of him was a disgruntled Mrs. Vermette, a confused Principal Heller, and two boys with brown hair. Strangers.

"Mr. Maxwell, please control your language," Principal Heller said in that icy command she'd perfected in 17 years of dealing with annoying delinquents like him. Her eyes flicked over to the two boys. "Is this the young man you were referring to?" The shorter one, icy blue eyes scrutinizing his face, nodded slowly.

"Duo Maxwell," he stated, and Duo barely suppressed a shiver, even though he couldn't tell if it was from the chill in his tone, or just the deep purring sound of the stranger's voice that seemed both a threat and invitation all at the same time. All contemplations were thrown away, however, when the messy-haired boy held up a very-familiar scene on a photograph.

His braid flying around, Duo was trotting towards the laboratory door, grinning and looking very smug.

"Don't I look great in black and white," Duo grinned, and the boy gave him a glare that could have incinerated an iceberg.

"I'd prefer bright orange," he said. In any other person's voice, it would have been a yell with how much impact the words caused around them. Still grinning, Duo shrugged.

"So, what? I'm in trouble for helping someone out," he asked, and this time the taller, emerald-eyed brunette spoke up.

"Yes, and no," he said quietly, and for some reason Duo was reminded of a lion asking a gazelle for a belly rub. "We'd like you to come with us. I'm Trowa Barton, and this is Dr. Heero Yuy." Heero glared at his colleague.

"Well, I'm sure this will be a wonderful educational experience for Mr. Maxwell," Principal Heller said, and Duo looked at her incredulously. "It's fourth period. You're free to go." Duo shrugged, and quickly turned to his English teacher.

"Fair is foul, foul is fair. Contradiction, and one of the themes of Macbeth. Witches are prophets," Duo shrugged, and quickly reentered the room to grab his stuff. As an afterthought, the braided boy winked at Steve, who whimpered.

"See you around," he smirked, and walked back out. Mrs. Vermette was gone, thank God, and his English teacher had walked back in. After seeing her student return from inside the classroom, Principal Heller also turned around and returned to her office. "Can I drive?" Trowa and Heero glanced at each other, and finally Trowa spoke as they marched towards the entrance.

"Heero goes with you," Trowa said, smiling faintly, and dropped behind them to avoid Heero Yuy's wrath. Duo looked at the shorter brunette.

"What? You don't have a car," Duo asked incredulously. Heero smirked.

"I blew it up," he stated. Duo glanced back at Trowa, who nodded. His jaw dropped.

"Shit, man, you ain't touching NOTHING in my baby," Duo yelled. He was extremely defensive about his car, mostly because it was his most valuable possession...well, monetarily. Heero's smirk deepened.

"Who said I have to touch it," he asked. "You solved the equation, so obviously you know more than you let on to. And I WILL make you explain yourself." Duo stared at the shorter boy, and then switched his gaze to Trowa.

"Is he always this freaky," he asked, and Trowa smiled again.

"Worse," he said. Heero snorted.

"Go find your blonde," he stated, and Trowa's visible green eye glinted.

"I think I will," he shrugged, just as they reached the main doors. "Be careful. I'll catch up in two hours." Heero nodded, and the other two boys walked out the door.

x---x

A/N: HA! Look. Almost a cliffhanger, but not. Actually, I'm stopping it there because I'm tired and have things to do in the morning, and it's way past 12 now, so I'm rambling now. I'm just going to do RR and go to bed.

READER RESPONSES(yay!):

Kaaera: I hope this answered a few of your questions, then. I am seriously considering doing both this and Chemical Romance, but...not 'till SOS is done. So, now I'm just being evil and teasing you people with Ch. 2. The equation, you'll find out in Ch. 3, but if you really wanna know RIGHT now, e-mail.

Mistress Koishii: (sigh) So demanding! Well, here you go. Just 'cuz you're you.

Zmaj Goddess: I honestly think this is what any (moderately) sane human would do in Heero's predicament: stare, glare, beat yourself up, and then beat something else up. And look what he did!

TKM: Thanks! I'm glad you liked Ch. 1.

Ahanchan: Great, you say? Awww. My ego's so happy.

Rumpelstiltskin: (freezes) Watching me?! AAAHHH! It's big brother! (Giggle) I'm glad you like the story!

CPfeb: Yep, I'd say some of the other ones were trash. (Stares intently at a nameless fic) Plus, this one's FUN!

Hee-chan2: Tada! More fic!

Mizcarol: WOW! I got analysis! So cool...I'm so glad you caught on to some of that. On the eyes? If you read through it again, you'll see no emotions other than annoyance and satisfaction. I figured, hey, we all know Hee-babe's annoyed, so...yeah...and I just blended Duo with Will by bringing out more of the smart-ass parts of our Braided Boy.

Miaka Kenyuuki: I'm loved! And here I go, continuing! So fun.

Princess Cherryblossom3: Don't be depressed! Nooo! I'm...a genius? Awesome? I inspire awe? (Looks around, then blushes and makes lil' circles with foot) Thanks! You're so nice!!! Ah, compliments. I love 'em.

Thank you so much for reading, and please review! As proven by this chapter coming up the same day as SOS 13, reviews REALLY motivate me. Thanks again!


	3. Bitter Nothings

A/N: Welcome to Ch. 3 of Prodigy. Goodness, I'm just spoiling you all with chapters when I'm not supposed to be doing them.

Anyway, I got extremely poetic after finishing Macbeth in my class, so I apologize. Since the only things I'm genuinely good at in school are (surprise surprise) English and physics, Duo turned into an underachieving English nerd, and Heero's an overachieving physics geek. I do NOT speak French. I speak Spanish. If you can correct it, by all means do. I'm open to constructive criticism...unless you're rude or insult my grammar. Then, you're going DOWN! (Clears throat) Sorry. Continue, please.

Macbeth Quote: Act 5, Scene 5, lines 19-23, & then same scene, 23-28. It's when Macbeth finds out his naughty lil' wife's dead; one of my favorite speeches in the whole dang play.

Biker's Poem/ Heero's Poems: By me...scary. NOT supposed to be good, by the way.

Irregular Warnings: French (translated at the bottom), Trowa Humiliation, Macbeth Quoting, More Profanity Than Normal, and Scary Heero Poetry.

Prodigy

Chapter 3

Bitter Nothings

x---x

Quatre gaped as a tall, beautiful brunette with intriguing hair and hypnotic green eyes stepped into his room as casually as any principal. The teacher barely looked up from the slight squeak of the door. Finally, the teacher looked up, and Trowa spoke.

"Je recherché Quatre," he said, and the small blonde teenager quickly stood up.

There were many, many reasons Quatre was surprised with his new acquaintance. One was that he'd showed up in the middle of class, during a test no less, and speaking in French! Of course, they'd been speaking in French when they'd met yesterday when Quatre had (rather embarrassingly) become lost after taking a brief detour to the bathroom.

The brunette with twinkling green eyes had smiled at him, and put him on the right path. Why had they been speaking French? Quatre had been busy cursing the building quite fluently in the smooth dialect.

"Trowa? Pourquoi êtes-vous ici?" Quatre asked, close to screaming from panic. Had he insulted Trowa in some way? Was he here to kill the heir to the Winner fortune? Or, was he a stalker?

"J'ai apprécié notre conversation hier. Voulez aller au dîner avec moi," Trowa stated calmly, and Quatre's mouth, once more, dropped open.

Sure, Trowa was gorgeous. Of course Quatre had also enjoyed their twenty-minute conversation about the evils of city plumbing. But, was this really worth interrupting his time? Was there some ulterior motive, or was Trowa really attracted to him? Quatre blushed, just as the teacher spoke up.

"Excuse me sir, but please. We speak two languages in this room: English, and Spanish," the teacher droned on, and for the first time Trowa noticed the sombreros littering the walls, maps proclaiming "Espana" stapled to the dilapidated building's fading cream wall.

He blushed. The sign outside had said "foreign language", and he'd assumed Quatre would be in French class. Apparently, the lovely angel was trilingual, at least.

Said angel giggled a little at the older boy's look of surprise.

"Oui, Trowa. Au revoir," Quatre chuckled, pushing the tall brunette out the door. He was about to say something else, but Quatre cut him off. "Au REVOIR!"

"But I don't know your-" Trowa's indignant outcry was cut off as the door clicked shut, the blonde blushing furiously. He shook his head. "I don't know your number." With one last, regretful glance at the door, he turned tail and trudged out to his little red sedan.

Just as he sat down in the driver's seat, another body thunked down in the car. Quatre smiled up at him, a rapidly-scribbled note in his hand.

"Sorry about that. Here," he said, and handed over the note (with, Trowa added with smug satisfaction, digits at the bottom). "I'm free after six, but I have to go to class now, so I hope to hear from you." Trowa nodded, but the blonde stayed in the car. "You probably have to get going, then." Again, he nodded.

Quatre nodded.

Trowa nodded.

"...Well, goodbye, then," Quatre said hesitantly, and as his hand reached for the door handle Trowa, panicked, clicked on the lock. The blonde tried again, but it stayed in place with a stubborn horizontal set. Aqua eyes finally met emerald. "I'm locked in."

For some reason, Trowa was panicked at the thought of the blonde leaving his car. He'd only spent a half an hour total with the boy, but it felt so comfortable whenever he was near. In those thirty minutes, he'd spoken more than in the last thirty days. Trowa sighed.

"I know. I locked it," Trowa muttered, and Quatre laughed. Without any sense of hesitation, the blonde leaned over and kissed Trowa on the cheek.

"I'll see you tonight, Trowa," he said, still chuckling silently. Trowa, still floating around the confines of his little red sedan, pushed the unlock button. Quatre got out, waving. "Au revoir, Trowa!" He walked back into the school, and Trowa couldn't help but grin.

"Au revoir, Ange."

x---x

_"Tommorow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow_

_Creeps in this petty place from day to day_

_To the last syllable of recorded time,_

_And all our yesterdays have lighted fools_

_The way to dusty death."_

Heero cast a wayward glance to the braided boy yelling out the window and shaking his fist as he drove one-handed down the avenue. As an afterthought, he took a quick look at the speedometer, which was happily twitching at about 95 mph. Then, his gaze swiveled back to the wayward scrap of paper shoved off the passenger seat, a normally well-hidden hint to the unashamed underachiever's mental prowess.

"_Out, out, brief candle!_

_Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player _

_That struts and frets his hour upon the stage_

_And then is heard no more. It is a tale_

_Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,_

_Signifying nothing."_

Heero ignored the indiscernible loud rock song, opting for deep contemplation of the road-ragedly inclined boy driving them to the lab. Why did he choose to write this quote down? What made it special to him?

And why did it speak to Heero, too? The one subject he had never excelled in was English; literary analysis had always left a sour taste in his mouth. Whether it was from the wishy-washy "themes" of his classmates or the political soapbox everything turned into for his professors, he couldn't tell. It just made him feel surrounded by brainless goons with books instead of steel bats, still intent on clobbering your face into the cement, hardback or paper.

A smirk rode up onto his lips as Duo nearly crashed into a semi, waving his middle finger casually into the sky.

"You hungry," Duo suddenly yelled out, and Heero had to blink for a moment. A quick look down at his watch flashed 11:23 AM. He shook his head.

"No," he stated. Duo chuckled.

"Well aren't you the conversationalist," he laughed out. "Thought you were gonna jump out the window with excitement there!" Heero frowned.

He did not like this boy.

He was sarcastic. He was smart, but didn't have the brains to use his intelligence. He was happy and bouncy, but carried depressing, hand-copied Shakespeare quotes in his neglected black backpack. But most importantly, he was always smiling, and that made him beautiful. And Heero did NOT like beautiful, funny, intelligent, happy-yet-deep people.

Because he didn't like Duo. And what Heero Yuy didn't like, he blew up.

He blinked. And the equation! The boy had death sentence written all over him! Wufei had received a broken arm just for looking at the damn thing. Duo had not only read it, but SOLVED it!

And here he was, pulling into a random diner with the boy who should be his mortal enemy. Finally, his nemesis appeared, and all Heero could think of was how pretty his eyes were and that stupid last sentence.

Love ya, and have a good day! 

He didn't even realize he was growling.

"Pyro! Outta the car," Duo snapped. Heero glared at the braided boy and climbed out, pocketing the quote as he slammed the door. That action earned him a vibrant glare. "You hurt my baby, you die." Heero smirked.

"Go ahead and try," he said. A little-known fact was that Heero Yuy took a bit of his lab with him no matter where he went. More specifically, a couple strategically placed vials of acid, two detonators, and one lovely loaded black pistol with some minor yet effective modifications. Duo smirked, and the glare returned to grace the scientist's blue eyes. "You solved my equation, and have some explanations for me, I assume." He chuckled.

"Well, I think I already told you about ClO3, but your handwriting could definitely use some flare," Duo began, grinning. "It's like reading microdot! I mean, exact right angles, with all the letters the same size, and all your little degrees exactly-"

"Shut up," Heero stated. There was no malice, no emotion. It was just a warning. Duo shrugged.

"Whatever. I'm eating, whether or not you get all pissy about it," he said, suddenly chipper. Heero had to wonder if the boy was bipolar like Une. "Unless you'd like me to tie you to the bumper and drive away? It's awfully tempting." Heero gave him another glare, but the violet-eyed idiot seemed impervious.

"Just go," he snapped, and Duo smiled and walked inside, Heero not far behind. He wasn't hungry, but he'd eat anyway.

To Heero's moderate surprise, the waitress greeted Duo by his first name, and he ordered "the usual". It was also, in an interesting turn of events, a biker poetry diner, however that had happened. A leather-clad man sat on a stool in the corner, speaking gruffly yet rhythmically into the microphone.

_Wheels revolving and I spin,_

_Drown without, drown within._

_The Man pulls down, and I pull up,_

_Falling in my lover's cup._

Heero quickly ignored it, and ordered a random sandwich on the menu. Duo was giving the young doctor an appraising look.

"So, what's the deal? I explain the answer, and you take the credit," he asked, and Heero shook his head. "What, then? You just get a free lunch and an answer, and I get a bit of credit?" Heero frowned. What was he doing, anyway?

"Mutual credit means mutual danger," Heero stated. "We both know what that formula could do to the world. An explosive like this could make a country a major world power, and you know the final stage's formula. You're stuck with me." Duo snorted.

"Sure. Mongolia's gonna come and tear down my apartment's walls so I write down your answer," Duo asked incredulously as the biker continued his sonnet. Heero finally caught his violet eyes.

"Yes, if it ever gets out of my lab," he said, and Duo's mouth dropped open.

"Fuck. I gotta get more knives," the braided boy muttered. "HAVE you told Mongolia?"

"Hn," he said, amused. Maybe blowing the boy up was a bad idea, even if he did have an affinity for biker beatniks. "I'm not an idiot."

"Could have fooled me." Heero's napkin landed in Duo's newly arrived soup, accompanied by a smirk. "Bastard."

"Baka."

"Robot."

**x---x**

A/N: The following part is purely frivolous fun that's not officially part of the Prodigy plot **_(as in it doesn't really happen.)._** Don't pay attention if you don't wanna; nothing special happens 'cept funniness. I just really wanted to add this in. Ha. Pyro-Heero reciting poetry! Yay. (My style goes a bit downhill, though, but that's cuz I was laughing so hard when I wrote this part.)

**x---x**

Heero was done with the playful (and extremely intriguing) boy. He grabbed Duo's braid, and dragged him out the door. "Damn it! Get off me!" The bikers were on their feet and looking menacing, but the Japanese-American scientist was too pissed to care.

Duo looked around helplessly. Finally, his hand crept down to his feet, and a knife was at Heero's throat. But, Heero just kept dragging him.

"Fuck! Heero, get off the damn braid," Duo was screaming. Heero threw him out the door, and then cursed.

Blood was dribbling down his neck, and Duo (who he'd accidentally thrown into the second set of doors, which were pull instead of push) was unconscious on the floor.

The hostess behind him sighed. "We've got a back room you can use," she grumbled, motioning behind her. "He's spent the night here before, and you're just nicked." Heero was about to protest, but the orange-clad woman held up her hand to stop him. "Shut up and take the charity!" Heero glared, and she glared back, finally grabbing the unconscious teenager. "Go recite poetry."

The woman walked away, leaving Heero to stare indignantly and ridiculously angrily at her back. But, she was dragging Duo almost effortlessly through the kitchen. Every inhabitant of the diner was staring at him. Finally, the previous performer stood up, offering the mike. Heero glared at him.

"When Lisa says recite, you recite," he stated, as if it were the Golden Rule, and every head in the place nodded.

"No."

A biker (or five) grabbed the bleeding boy and hauled him onstage. The surly biker holding the mike shoved it into his hands. "RECITE." He said it like the scientist was deaf. Heero glared at them, only to realize they'd made a human wall almost seven feet tall around the small stage. There was no escape.

Heero cleared his throat, cursing the day Duo Maxwell was born.

They'd know Shakespeare; that was all he had, sitting in his back pocket along with his wallet. God, he was going to strangle that idiot when he woke up. The human wall was waiting patiently. So, Heero Yuy did the thing he hated most in the world.

He made up poetry in his head right then and there, and spilled it on the waiting, angry mob of forty-year-old, fully armed biker beatniks.

"Sweet nothings you whispered to me 

_Dipped down to the surface of my soul,_

_And ate me."_

He moved towards the end of the stage, but the human wall seemed reinforced now. He was tempted to kill them all with the vials stuck in his socks, but decided to keep them for Duo's awakening. He smirked. Poetry? He'd give them poetry.

Bastards.

He grabbed the mike almost violently, slammed his bottom on the stool, and began.

"_You hate me, I hate you,_

_Yet we're the same- one and two._

_One for nothing, all alone, _

_Two too many, can't find home._

_Hate and love, love and hate,_

_Who can really trust in fate?_

_Lies don't kill, believers do;_

_Now let's go fight- one and two._

_Love to kill, afraid of dying,_

_Close to laughing, almost crying,_

_Kissing, missing, wishing._

_Mutilate their bodies, _

_Drown out their screams _

_With each other's soul._

_I hate you, you hate me._

_What a perfect pair we'd be."_

The mike fell to the stage with a thud as he strode off unhindered.

x---x

A/N: That was fun! Oh, you lovely people are gonna be spoiled! I wrote all that horrible poetry spur-of-the-moment. It's not supposed to be good, it's supposed to be funny. What, you think I'd actually put 'and ate me' in a poem? HA! I kinda like Hee-chan's poem though. Very coarse, brutal, and (if you couldn't tell) 1x2-centric! Yay.

French Translations:

_Je recherché Quatre: _I'm looking for Quatre.

_Pourquoi êtes-vous ici?:_ Why are you here?

_J'ai apprécié notre conversation hier. Voulez aller au dîner avec moi: _I appreciated our conversation yesterday. Please go to dinner with me (Roughly).

_Ange:_ angel.

(I'm assuming you know au revoir.)

READER RESPONSES (YAY!):

TKM: Thank you! I'm more than good!! Sorry to make your impatience not pay off very well.

SnakeMistress: Thanks! I'm anticipated! Yay.

Son of twilight: Hee hee! I'm so glad you like it.

Memeal: Thanks! There's gonna be a LOT more explosions.

Rumpelstiltskin: I want a lab too! This story brings out the pyro in me. Something annoys me? BLOW IT UP IN PRODIGY! Yay.

ZmajGoddess: I love Queen. They're so good. Old School, yo!

Ahanchan: Yep. There's a really long story to why he blew up his car, but we're getting there. I'm so glad you like it!

Yasei Raiden: I don't secretly wish I could blow stuff up and get paid for it. I genuinely admit it to the world. Oh yes! There WILL be some huge fights. I'm so excited! Sorry it didn't go up very soon...heh...

Crysania Fay: Here! Here! Don't be sad! Have a cracker! (gives cracker) You okay? I hope so.

Miaka Kennyuuki: Gah. I keep spelling your name wrong! Sorry if I don't catch it...I'm so glad you like Prodigy!

Kaaera: Well, I already emailed you, didn't I? Hmm. Now you know most of the stuff in chapter 4. Dang. Thanks for reviewing!

Mistress Koishii: Like woohoo? Yes indeed! I do that every time I get an A. I jump up and do a happy dance...yes, one of the many reasons I'm strange. BUT FUN!

Shinimegami-025: I'm so happy you like it! It was all inspired by two things: Good Will Hunting and when I got so mad I threw my alarm clock out my window. Yep, actually did that. And my new one's more annoying than the old. I just can't win! (tear)

Inuki: I'm so glad you like my lil' story!

Dentelle-noir: I'm glad you're so excited. And oh yes, of course there's gonna be a whole bunch of conflict! We've got espionage coming up! ESPIONAGE! Yay. Oh the things people do for a good explosive...(sighs dreamily).

Wow...I feel popular! So, yet again, the last part DIDN'T HAPPEN! Don't think it did. Consider it a "Dream Sequence", if you will.

Thanks for reading! Please review! Next chapter comes probably when Sea of Silence is FINALLY done.

_**SURVEY:**_

_What should be destroyed next?_

1. Singing Birthday Card

2. Computer

0. MY STUPID SCANNER! Argh. Not really an option. I'm just mad right now.

3. Robotic Dog. (Yes, I'm sadistic.)


	4. Conspiracy

A/N: Prodigy, Ch. 4, has now arrived! Woo hoo! Normally, I'd say I'm spoiling you, but this is purely me being a naughty authoress. I should be writing the final chapter of SOS, but...sigh it makes me so sad. Plus, it's ridiculously long (almost 10,000 words! YIKES!), so this is better...right? Right.

My excuse for this chapter's pure freakiness? Three words: English term paper. Ouch. Yep, that's how I spent the entirety of my fall break. I have yet to even ATTEMPT working on my psych paper...but, Prodigy called.

Saparta University? Doesn't exist. Well, as far as I know, anyway. That would be the private college that Heero & Trowa (& others) work at. Yeah, basically I put another a in Sparta and called it original...

Unusual Warnings: Hmmm...how to phrase it...let's say..."hinting". If your mind's naughty (like mine), lots and lots of yaoi. If not, there's still some there regardless.

Prodigy

Chapter 4

Conspiracy

x---x

Duo was genuinely impressed at their treatment in the Saparta University Lab Complex. It was rare when people-especially aging, uppity, department chair scientists-literally jumped out of your way.

But, they did. And seemed almost truly excited to do so. At one particular area, the doctor had smiled, and said, "Please, allow _me_!"

...Then again, it was downright scary at the same time. Anyone who received treatment like that was either terrifying, extremely well respected, or sadistic. He was beginning to think Dr. Heero Yuy was all three of these things. So, obviously it made sense that people would jump out of his way, since he could blow them up, calculate their decapitated head's trajectory, and laugh about it at the same time.

Duo's new "friend" turned another corner, and finally the boy knew where they were. A familiar bold sign that read "DESTRUCTION EXPERIMENTATION" kind of helped with that. The good doctor pulled out a keycard and zipped them in. But, as soon as Heero got a look around the room, he growled.

"Chang," he snarled, and a pair of cool black eyes turned from the equation towards the two. He blinked.

"Yuy," the other boy stated. His gaze slipped towards Duo, intrigued. "And you would be...?"

"No concern of yours," Heero stated, and suddenly seemed to glow malice. Duo was genuinely intrigued by this turn of events, but any further thoughts were wiped clean as the scientist suddenly had the other boy slammed down on the tile floor, growling. "I told you to never come in here."

"Get off me," the boy snapped, and jerked his head upwards to land a hard blow on Heero's chin. But, the brown-haired doctor didn't move.

"I warned you," Heero stated again. "I told you to never come back in. And what did you do?" Duo sat himself down on one of the nearby countertops to watch the boys. When Wufei didn't say another word, Heero pushed him further into the floor, and hissed, "_What did you do_?"

With a wordless roar, the boy twisted himself around, and tried to smash Heero's head into the tile, but before he got the chance to complete the motion, he found himself once more pinned on the floor. Except, this time, a grinning boy with shining violet eyes was straddling him.

"Well, you're a naughty little thing, aren't you," Duo chuckled, and then turned his attention to the grumpy scientist. "You wanna explain this?" Heero glared at him.

"Chang Wufei, transfer student from China. He's working on his masters in biochemistry," Heero stated, and Duo nodded, standing up and offering Wufei a hand. Instead, the boy glared at him and stood himself up, brushing his lab coat off.

"What, no thank you?" Duo stared at Wufei incredulously. "I'm insulted!" The two boys ignored him, choosing to glare at each other.

"Next time, you won't have your friend to protect you," Wufei sneered. Heero smirked.

"Next time, you won't have legs." With one last venomous glare, Wufei stormed out of the room, slamming the now-slammable door on the way out.

"Ooookay," Duo said, drawing the word out. "NOW want to explain?" Heero sat himself down in his rollie chair and crossed his arms.

"No." The braided student rolled his eyes, and Heero frowned. "I suspect him of being a spy." Duo stared at him.

"Please tell me you're joking," he said, and when the scientist merely met his gaze, Duo hopped off the counter, and headed straight for the door...only to find it locked by a convenient button on Heero's desk. He twirled around, glaring at Heero as he strode forward. "It's your fault all this even happened. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to act smart for once-JUST ONCE! - and now you stick me in some fucking conspiracy theory to get your doom recipe! I'm DONE!" Heero just stared at him. "LET ME LEAVE!"

"I can't," Heero said calmly. "You're in danger." Duo screamed, and before he had even thought about what he was doing, slapped Heero hard. Hard violet eyes glared at him.

"Let. Me. Leave."

Heero glared back. "No," he snapped, and then cursed under his breath.

Let me leave. Damn it. He'd almost forgotten.

"I-we- have to go." Duo quirked an eyebrow up.

"...Huh? I thought I was being held captive," he queried, and Heero grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the lab's now-unlocked door.

"I'm late for a meeting." Duo frowned, irked as Heero dragged him back out to the parking lot. Finally, he fake-pouted.

"You just love me for my car!" Heero nearly tripped when Duo yelled it out, and turned to glare fiercely at him, only to see Duo was grinning haphazardly regardless. He positioned himself right in front of the braided menace.

"You are in danger," Heero stated coldly. "Whether you like it or not, it's true." Before Duo could bite out a witty comeback, he gasped as the annoying scientist pulled him forward and shoved his hand in the other boy's pocket. The hand was quickly removed, holding a set of car keys as the rest of him continued towards Duo's junky yet insanely fast black car.

Duo stood, choking and dazed, for a moment. Had Heero just...? He shook his head. No way Dr. You're-In-Danger-But-I-Hate-You-So-Shut-Up could have had that look in his eyes. He couldn't have possibly seen that eerily bright blue suddenly flare up in the scientist's eyes...could he?

Logic finally kicked back in, and Duo ran after the annoyance commandeering his car.

x---x

At the precise moment the clock struck six o'clock, Trowa Barton grabbed the phone.

He dialed Quatre's hurriedly scrawled but perfectly legible number.

The phone rang.

An older-sounding man answered. "Winner residence. Hello?"

Trowa Barton, panicking, hung up.

x---x

Duo broke the car's silence, slouched in the passenger seat with his arms crossed moodily. "You could have just asked." Heero turned another smooth corner at 80 miles an hour in a 35 mile an hour zone.

"You would have said no." Duo shrugged, and blinked when he realized where they were.

"That is NOT funny," he snapped, pointing at the local mental health facility. Heero glared at him, pulling into an insanely close parking spot without even looking, centering the vehicle perfectly.

"It's not a joke," Heero stated coolly, and carefully turned off the car, handing the keys back to Duo as he got out of the car. His softened blue eyes glanced over to the car's owner. "I'd prefer if you didn't come." Duo frowned.

"I'm coming anyway," he said. Heero just shrugged, and led the way into the mental hospital. A nurse was already waiting for them, and smiled at the sight of Heero striding up the stairs.

"Dr. Yuy! We're so glad you made it. You've never been late before," the nurse said, ushering the two boys inside.

"I was detained with business," he said, almost apologetically. The nurse nodded understandingly.

"The best of us have that problem," she reassured, and her eyes flicked over to Duo. "Will he be joining you?" Heero's steps slowed, and finally he stopped, turning towards the extremely confused Duo Maxwell. He frowned, some of the sudden softness fading away.

"No. He may observe, but he is in no way permitted contact with Miss Peacecraft," he said coldly, and Duo frowned minutely, figuring the scientist was pretty pissed at him for following. The nurse nodded, still smiling.

"I assume you know the way?" Heero nodded, and she smiled. "She's waiting. I'll take your friend to the observation room, then." Again, he nodded, and strode away. The nurse's beaming face turned to Duo. "First time here, right?" Duo nodded now.

"I didn't know he had a friend here," he said, striking up a conversation, and the nurse chuckled, leading him down another corridor.

"Oh, Dr. Yuy likes to keep it private. He feels awfully about it, and visits every week. He's one of the only people to visit Miss Peacecraft," the nurse chatted. "She's very fond of him, even with their circumstances." Duo's eyebrows twisted around.

"What circumstances? They married or something," Duo asked, and the nurse looked thoughtful, clearly trying to figure out the best way to respond.

"Miss Peacecraft is delusional. She believes with every fiber of her being that she's a princess from a made-up kingdom called Sanc, and that Heero Yuy is her fiancée, a visiting prince," the nurse began conversationally, opening a door for them. They walked on as Duo, enraptured, listened to the crazy story. "She wasn't always insane, but there was a trigger a year ago.

"At about that time, Heero showed up at Saparta University. Miss Peacecraft's father was the dean, and she was immediately smitten with her father's new prize scientist. And who can blame her? He's smart, strong, and gorgeous. If I was a few years younger...anyway, she was in a car crash while their family was on their way to something or other, and her father died. She ended up like this."

The nurse opened one last door, and Duo found himself in a dim room, a window on one side, where a young lady with honey hair sat primly at a table set with tea, decked out in a simple yet elegant pink dress. She sipped some of her tea, staring at the wall's mural of a garden, until there was a knock at the door. The lady smiled, and the door opened to show Heero. He strode over, gave her a short bow, and sat in the other chair.

"Good afternoon, Heero! I hope your day wasn't too trying," she beamed at him. "I hope Yuyopia is well?" Heero held back a grimaced at the made-up country he was supposedly sovereign of. That was just wrong.

"Trade is struggling, but it will survive," he said instead, pouring himself some tea. "I presume Sanc is well?" Relena smiled at him.

"Oh, yes. As you said, trade is struggling, but then again, where isn't it? I've drastically dropped down tariffs, but no matter what I try, it simply won't boost the economy enough," she said, shaking her head. "However, we've struck gold in the mountains, so in a while all should be well!" She looked up at him hopefully.

"Has your brother visited recently," Heero asked, and her face drooped a little, but she responded cordially. Duo looked back at the nurse.

"Are they talking in code or something," he asked. There had been WAY too much emotion for that to just be made-up economics. The nurse smiled at him.

"Nobody knows, except them. I've asked Dr. Yuy, but he always just brushes it off," she said, and then immediately grabbed Duo's hand, and pointed to the window with the other. "Oh! She's getting to it early! Watch this!" He did.

Relena set down her teacup with a muted clatter. "I believe it is time we got to the real issue," she said coolly, a small smile still on her lips. As her smile got wider, Heero's face darkened proportionally. "Why do you continue to delay the wedding? We both know it will drastically benefit not only our countries, but also ourselves!"

("Oooh! That's new!" The nurse said conversationally. Duo wasn't paying attention to her, though.)

Heero frowned. "I'm at war." Relena sighed.

"Again?! With who?" A small smirk appeared on his lips.

"The Isle of Maxwell recently invaded," he said easily. "And, as we both know, marriage during a war is simply asking for assassination." Relena nodded forlornly.

"Well, I hope that works itself out quickly," she sighed, and stood. Heero stood at the same time, as any gentleman would, especially around royalty. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will retire." She held out her hand, and Heero gave it a chaste kiss. She smiled softly at him, and walked through the other door in the room, which led to her bedroom.

Heero looked straight up into the one-way glass, and walked out.

x---x

At six forty three, Trowa Barton picked the phone back up.

He dialed the number.

The phone rang.

It was picked up, and a cheery, familiar voice answered. "Winner residence. Hello?"

Trowa held back a sigh of relief. "Hi. It's Trowa."

"Oh! Hi! How are you?"

"Good. So, about dinner, I was wondering if you'd like-"

"I'm sorry Trowa, can you give me a minute? My father's calling me."

"But-"

The phone was set down delicately, and Trowa sighed. There were the sounds of people in the background. Speech turned to yelling, and something crashed to the floor.

Trowa lurched to his feet. "Quatre?" There was more yelling on the other side of the phone. "QUATRE?!"

Someone picked the phone up.

"He's busy at the moment," a deep, masculine voice said hesitantly.

"What's going on over there?!"

"..."

The phone at the Winner residence hung up.

Trowa slammed his phone down on the kitchen table.

x---x

A/N: Ooooo! What's gonna happen now?! Bwahahah! Ahhh, plotness. Gotta love it. And there's gonna be more Destruction next chapter; I wanted to get this out of the way first. Well! Off to actually do my work!

READER RESPONSES:

Claushiru: shrug Well, I'd always end up screwing it up anyway. I'm not exactly fluent in French...Glad you like the story, though!

Hazel-Beka: Awww, I feel loved! Glad you like the story!

Thalia16: Someone likes my sense of humor! Oh, thank you! And we'll see about the computer...

Ahanchan: No problem! I like the biker beatniks too...then again, I wrote it. (blush) Never mind. And I'm sorry I don't update very quickly.

Kaaera: That's so weird! I do the same exact thing with reviews! Well, not with 33, but hey. Anyway, after I post, I always have to sit around at school (since I have a bad habit of posting around 3 AM...) and twiddle my thumbs, thinking, "Did anyone review? Huh? HUH?!" I get SO easily obsessed/addicted to stuff. It's bad. I'm so happy you love it!

Windy River: As always, I attempt to do so.

SnakeMistress: DARN YOU! Your anticipation will make me keel over and die when I drive into a ditch, swerving to not hit a cow, and in that ditch will be multiple porcupines which will POKE ME TO DEATH!!! Wow...sorry 'bout that. Anyway, it makes me happy you liked my spontaneous poetry!

DK-Adeena: I concur. It WOULD be interesting if Heero blew Duo up...in a painful kind of way. We'll see about the computer.

Hee-chan2: I'm glad! Here's the next chapter! Well, you've already read it now, haven't you? Darn.

ZmajGoddess: Dog, eh? (sigh) I just love that option...we'll see.

Chix0r neko: Let's see if I got your crazy name right...And continue I shall!

Rumpelstiltskin: Awww...I feel all gushy inside! Thank you!

Shinimegami-025: I think there's an alarm conspiracy. No, seriously. Every year, they get more and more annoying. It's not a bad way to take over the world, either! Annoy everyone to death, and make their alarms malfunction so nobody ever gets any sleep, so the whole world would commit suicide! Robotic dog? Tempting.

Mistress Koishii: YAY! You liked it! I feel special. I was tempted to do a William Carlos Williams poem, but nobody really cares about chickens and wheelbarrows anyway.

Immortal-pain: Heeey! You remind me of one of my sister's personalities! (grin) We'll see about the birthday card.

Duo-Maxwell5x2: See, I wanted to write it, 'cuz the idea of Pyro-Heero reciting poetry is HILLAREOUS to me, so I just put it, even though it didn't happen. (shrug) Makes no sense, but yeah. I'm glad you like it! And, I AM a fan of 5x2, but more of a fan of 1x2. I support you!

Sapphire Dragons: Birthday card? Hmm...will see. I like your smiley, too! Very original/artsy.

**Survey:**

Just out of curiosity, what is the weirdest pairing you can think of? (Freakiest I can think of is probably 4x11. That'd just be WEIRD.)

Oh, and if you can guess what Heero and Relena are really talking about, I'll give you a...umm...puppy! Nah...how 'bout a spoiler? YEAH! Say what spoiler you want, and if you get it right, I'll E-mail it to you! HA! Yeah, I'm in a _weird_ mood right now...


	5. The Deeper Threat

A/N: Chapter 5! Hooray! SOS is DONE!! Ahhh, I'm so excited!! Just so you know, my poor widdle compy's about to go into the fix-it shop, so I'll be on a mandatory hiatus. Well, either that or my monitor and hard drive blow up again, and hey, that's not exactly sounding fun, now is it? Anyway, apologies. I'll be back in action right afterwards.

Also, I'm straying a bit from the comedy this chapter, but Heero _does_ blow up lots of shit, so no worries. Ah, yes, and if you didn't know, _Enter Sandman_ is by Metallica. Good song. Go listen. Hey, I use a lot of music in this story…what can I say? Sound good.

Yeah, and the computer was blown to a charred mass of wire because mine's sucking my will to live. So, it (and consequentially I) will be out of service for a few days in the near future. Be forewarned!

Uncommon Warnings: Yaoi! Mild littlelime! WOOHOO! Oh, that's so exciting…And yes, Heero is acting a bit wimpy during it, but you'll get why further down the road. Stupid Pick-up Lines, Trowa Emotional Torture, and Duo's a wee bit strange ('cuz he's sleepy, just like me!).

Prodigy

Chapter 5

The Deeper Threat

x---x

_Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap-_

"Stop it," Heero growled, and innocent violet eyes blinked up at him. Duo grinned from his seat on top of the lab's charred counter.

"Stop what?"

_Tap tap tap-_

"THAT," he snapped again, and the braided annoyance on his counter laughed softly. Deciding to obey for the moment, his eloquent fingers began to twirl the pencil around in a figure eight. Duo smiled at the bristling doctor.

"This better," he asked, and jumped down from the counter, fingers still swinging the pencil in further complicated arcs, twisting it around his middle and index fingers until it was making a four leaf clover in the air. Heero frowned.

"How are you doing that," he asked, and Duo shrugged.

"Same way you can think up ways to destroy stuff. Practice." The student's voice had lost all trace of the happy-go-lucky young man Heero had grudgingly become acquainted with over the past thirteen hours, and that was enough to make the good doctor wary. Those big, brilliant eyes were shining darkly at him. "You know what you get when you cross an angel and a demon?"

Heero frowned. "What," he asked, and Duo chuckled, throwing the pencil back to where he'd been sitting. Fierce violet stared at him.

"You." Somewhere, _Enter Sandman _was playing in the background, and he was smiling in that bizarre way again, enflaming every nerve in Heero's body. Duo chuckled, sliding closer along the tile. "Baby, I'm like chocolate pudding. I may look like crap, but I'm actually as sweet as hell!" Heero blinked. "Aww, come on, babe. You gonna make me work for it?" Heero frowned. _What_ was he _doing_?

That question was quickly answered when the underachiever grabbed Heero's lab coat (which he couldn't remember putting on, come to think of it…) by the collar and kissed him. Dark blue eyes shot open just as Duo's slammed shut, a purring sound low in his throat.

_Ohgodohgodohgod _the scientist's brain kept repeating frantically, fighting to get out of the unwelcome passion. _I'm not enjoying this, this isn't happe- FUCK! _Any chance of denial was blown apart when Duo's hand crept up the back of his shirt and a slender finger started to slide along his spine. He shivered, gasping at the same time, and Duo took the opportunity to let his tongue slip between the open lips.

He couldn't help it. Heero's hand found itself tangled in that luxurious chestnut hair, and his other arm wrapped itself around Duo's waist, forcing them closer together. The kiss deepened, and-

"Heero."

He ignored it, finally taking control of the situation. Duo was propped up on the counter, back pressed against the wall and hurrying to get rid of their clothes. His hands were everywhere. His mouth moved lower, determined to taste the braided boy's creamy skin, and Duo moaned. Heero smiled. He loved that moan.

"Heero!"

Time stood still, leaving Heero time enough to glance around, utterly confused. Why did Duo sound like Trowa all of a sudden?

The scene faded, and angry, hazy eyes opened to glare at Trowa as his head rose slowly from the desk. Trowa, being a college student of above-average intelligence, had the decency to look mildly abashed.

Heero, however, wasn't about to just sit and fume. He grabbed the nearest heavy object he could find, which happened to be his computer monitor, and hefted it above his shoulders for a few seconds, before it seemed to sail out the second-story window by its own accord. That was quickly followed by the tower, which slammed into the ground with a crash.

But, he still didn't feel any better, so he grabbed some ethanol, strode back to the window, and slammed the beaker onto the already thoroughly abused electronic device. With a vicious glare, he lit a match and dropped it down, barely avoiding the fireball that vooshed up into the night sky in a violent cloud of flames.

Slowly, he turned back to his friend. Breathe in, breathe out. His new mantra (_I do not like Duo Maxwell, I do not like Duo Maxwell_) repeated in his brain along with every breath he took. A mildly forceful glare was firmly bolted to his still-hazy eyes as they tried to focus on Trowa. "What?" The taller student shifted on his feet, which was as close to fidgeting as the zoologist ever got.

"I think Quatre's in trouble," he finally said. "And, I'd like Duo's phone number." Trowa shrugged, staring at the shattered window. "They were on the same field trip, so maybe he knows where Quatre lives." Heero frowned, but nodded, and walked over to his desk on instinct…only to stop and remember he'd thrown it out the window.

Heero glared at the lab, but finally settled on walking out the door, Trowa following close behind. "I know where he lives," he muttered. "You're driving." Trowa chuckled.

"Of course."

Inwardly, Heero sighed. He hated Duo Maxwell, and nothing he could possibly believe would tell him differently.

x---x

Duo Maxwell, utterly exhausted high school student, woke up limply on his bed, headphones playing whatever was plugged into some music. He didn't own anything fancy, so he guessed it was probably a radio or CD player. Details tended to pass him by at three AM. Still, regardless of his attention span, the beat rolled on, and yawning, Duo tapped along.

His drowsy reverie was broken by a forceful knock on the door.

Sighing and groaning at the same time, he hopped off the lifted mattress and pried the headphones off his head, grabbing a knife in the process. Being an emancipated teenager with a near minimum wage job, he didn't exactly live in the best neighborhood. In fact, he lived in probably the seediest area of Saparta, but Duo actually preferred it…even though it was just because of the prices.

They knocked again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," he snapped, and undid first the official lock on his door, then the bottom lock, and finally opened it the small amount the chain would allow.

Duo yawned again, unfazed when blue eyes and unruly chocolate hair glared back at him. "Oh," he grumbled, and undid the chain. He was yawning again when Heero and the other brunette- Trowa? -stepped in.

Duo knew his apartment wasn't much to look at, and wasn't about to start tidying up for them. Since it was officially a studio, the room had no bedroom, so his bed was dangerously close to the stove and the small bathroom led right off the front door. There was a kitchen, a bed, a table, and a couch with a dusty TV in the corner. Clothes were liberally strewn about, all black, and the bed itself was crumpled white sheets and a black comforter so faded it was light gray.

He didn't bother with pleasantries at 3 in the morning. "Whaddaya want?" Heero blinked in what Duo was quickly acknowledging as the "…oookaaayy…" expression of the good doctor. Surprisingly, Trowa stepped forward.

"I need Quatre Winner's address. He's not in the phonebook," Trowa stated, and Duo sighed yet again, scratching the top of his disheveled braid. He glanced around, then grimaced.

"What day's it," he mumbled.

"It was Monday, but officially it's now Tuesday," Heero stated, and Duo nodded thoughtfully. Finally, he shrugged.

"Lemme guess. You think something happened to Quat, and got all scared about something or other when something or other happened at his house, right," Duo asked, trudging over to his meager refrigerator and turning around just in time to see Trowa's nod. Duo shrugged. "Don't worry 'bout it. Monday's the boss' day. He gets over it, 's all. Tuesday, he'll be fine." Trowa frowned, and Duo poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"Boss?" Duo took a swig, blinking and looking around. Heero was busy staring at the headphones, which the violet-eyed boy had put on repeat when he went to the door. He shrugged.

"Sure. Everybody's got a boss. Hee-babe over there's got his supervisor, you've got Hee-babe, I've got the principal and teachers, Mister Winner's got his boss too," Duo replied, and took another swig, plunking down in one of his wooden chairs.

"Don't call me Hee-babe," Heero said, hands now toying with the slender headphones. Duo chuckled.

"Alright then, _Hee-chan_," he snickered, but Heero couldn't hear him, too busy listening with concealed horror to _Enter Sandman_ on repeat. Duo glanced up at Trowa, violet eyes becoming more coherent. "So yeah. That's when Mr. Winner gets his deals in, and Quat's not big into those. He's got those crazy morals and all that." Another yawn, and Duo ran a hand through his bangs. "Shit, I'm tired. Well, here's my advice. Meet him tomorrow at school- the only difference'll be a couple of bruises, maybe."

Trowa frowned. "I still don't understand," he said calmly, and Duo chuckled.

"You ever wonder where the Winners got all the money," he asked, and Trowa blinked.

"I didn't even know the Winners had money," he stated. Duo grinned, and downed the rest of the orange juice.

"Well, see, the Winner family is quite possibly the richest people you'll ever not hear about," he said, laughter in his sleepy eyes. "Think of an oil enterprise, but with more girls in it. Then you get about a third of the profits." Trowa frowned.

"What about the other two thirds," he asked, emerald eyes shining. Duo shrugged.

"Gotta ask Quat 'bout that one," he said, and quickly turned towards Heero. "Oi! Hee-chan! Get outta here, already. I got school tomorrow…unless you're kidnapping me again?" Heero threw the still-repeating headphones back onto the bed.

"Actually, I'll be joining you at school for Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other days, you will be spending at the lab with me," he said, as if they'd been discussing it for hours, and Duo stared blankly at him.

"…What?"

"I'll be at school with you on Tuesday and Thur-"

"I heard that, damn it! Why the fuck are you doing that?! I doubt I need that much protection from Mongolia's Ninja Army of Science," Duo snapped, and Trowa couldn't help but think he was finally awake. Heero's gaze never wavered.

"You do. I teach on Wednesdays and Fridays. You will be there," he stated. "I am also enrolling you into a night school program at the university, and I'll be hiring you as an assistant." Duo's glare was venomous.

"No, you're not," he growled, and Heero smirked.

"Try and stop me," he responded coolly, pressing the stop button on the CD player. "You're the one who decided to be smart for once."

"I have a job already."

"You can have two."

"I don't _want _two."

"Tough. You'll have two, or I'll call the police and tell them you were breaking and entering onto my property, which, technically, you were."

Duo cursed under his breath. Which, screwing up his parole royally, would land his ass right back in juvie. "Bastard."

"Stop now," Trowa finally interjected, taking a deep breath from where he leaned against the wall, and two pairs of eyes glanced over at him, surprised he was still there. Trowa stood upright finally, and headed for the door. "Thank you, Duo. Heero, I'm not waiting much longer." He walked straight out the door, leaving the other two boys to glare at each other.

"You're going to wish you never met me," Duo glared, and Heero laughed dryly.

"What a surprise. I already do." He walked out the door, barely avoiding Duo's empty glass of juice.

x---x

A/N: Oooh, plotness! Exciting. Yeah, this stuff was actually going to be two chapters, but I condensed it 'cuz I felt bad about not updating for…oooo…how long? A month and a half? Heh…sorry, guys. I'll be prompt after my compy's fixed! PROMISE!!! Just trust Dante to beat my ass into gear. Stupid muse…

And let's see who can guess what the chappy title's referring to! (It's not that hard, really…)

Oh, and since a surprising amount of you guys didn't know what the numbers are (And if I spell something wrong (::cough:: Q's middle name ::cough::), please correct me!) :

01-Heero Yuy  
02-Duo Maxwell  
03-Trowa Barton  
04-Quatre Rebarba Winner  
05-Chang Wufei (Wufei Chang)  
06-Zechs Merquise  
09- Lucrezia Noin  
11- Lady Une  
13- Treize Khushrenada

Hope that's helpful…And, see how Zechs is 6? That's why I personally don't believe anyone should write those "6th pilot" stories. Admittedly, some are really good, but still. Zechs already has the number.

READER RESPONSES! Oh the joy!!!

Morgan: I hang my head in shame. I'll be prompt now. Sorry.

Blackland Fire Dragon: Cool name, by the way…yeah, not exactly a Relena person. But I just always feel obligated to make her a central part of the story. Makes me sad, because she's either the bad guy or the crazy person. Oh well.

Bunch-o-Nuts: I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!

Shadows of fire: Quatre and J?! That is SERIOUSLY disturbing…ick. I don't want to picture J with ANYONE...eeewwww! 2x11's pretty freaky, too.

Mistress Koishii: Go to (http:www. writing. afilreis/88 /wcw-red-wheel .html) to figure out what William Carlos Williams poetry is. Yeah…I call him Mr. Ambiguous. And yet again, English Major rears its ugly head. :) And all that other stuff you'll find out later! Hooray.

Camillian: Oooh, you like my hinting conversations! Foreshadowing is so fun, don't you think?

Ahanchan: See? More destruction! Hah…revenue…

Windy River: Oops!

Dentellenoir: Oh, I'm so glad you think so! (smiles all day)

Kaaera: See, this one's going up around 1 AM, and I have finals tomorrow. Yes, I'm bad, but come on!!! Prodigy!!! Eep. Homework baadd.

Yasei Raiden: Ohhh, you're so niiiceeee!!! You got closer on the Relena code than most other people, too. And you like Prodigy! YAAY! (And you're the second person to ever glomp me, too, I think! I feel so loved!)

Hazel-Beka: 2xRelena?! How the heck would that work??? I might have to go find one just to see…

Thalia16: Aww…you got my innuendo! Hooray! (gives jolly rancher) And I'm so very glad you took the time to review. Thank you!

Rumpelstiltskin: You're always so fun! Here's another update.

Shinimegami-025: …I think I spelled your name wrong last time. I'm sorry!!! Forgive me! Ha. Blow up Relena…in time, precious, in time…(evil cackle)

ZmajGoddess: You got the innuendo too! (gives yummy jolly rancher) I'm glad you liked last chapter.

Memeal: More 3x4 next chapter, just so you know. Yeah…I'm dead too…ugh.

Kimpatsu no Hoseki: See above chart! Aren't I nice? :) Thanks for reviewing!

Kyona Kopper: Why thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Ms trick:…DIE?! Well, I _am_ your favorite GW author…(grins really, really big for two hours.) You made my day. Have a cookie. (gives cookie.)

Seraphccuse: MY THIRD GLOMP!!! I'm so glad you love it! Thanks for reviewing!

**THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW!** (In bold because it actually makes me end up writing faster. Yeah, whoddathunk it…)

(And believe it or not, I'll be blowing all of the options up, just not yet.)


	6. UnBirthdayLove and War

A/N: Sorry for neglecting you all…again. For the reasons for said neglect, please refer to the last real paragraph on my profile thingy. As I say in that, family will always come first, no matter how astoundingly cool you people are. She'll be in the hospital for a while, too, so…yeah.

So! Prodigy! I'll warn you now-INTENTIONAL CLIFFHANGER. I'm sorry, but even with all those marvelous reviews you guys send me, I just had to do it. (But to make up for it, my New Year's present to you all's an Extra-Long Chappy, which is both ch.6 & 7, hence this chapter's freaky title. But 7 was extremely short anyway, so…enjoy!) And if you were curious, this IS the chapter where Wufei comes in for good. YAY!

Unusual Warnings: If I say 'em, it gives the chapter away, so I'll just put More Profanity than Normal, Muddled first two scenes, and the rest you can get yourself! Enjoy!

Prodigy

Chapter 6

UnBirthday/ Love and War

x---x

Duo woke up screaming, knives suddenly appearing in his hands as the banging on his door continued. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Fuming, he rolled out of the bed, knives still death gripped, and glared through his locks. "Heero, I sw…" His voice trailed of at the sight of a bouncy, exuberant blue-haired girl outside his door holding a box in her hands. "Oh, hi Hil-AAAAHHH!"

She launched herself at him, effectively knocking the longhaired boy back into his table. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUO!!!"

Duo blinked as Hilde continued to squeeze the life out of him. "It's not my birthday, Hilde," he said, and the girl giggled, finally letting go. Just out of curiosity, he glanced at the dusty old clock, which was flashing five thirty am. He groaned. "Shit, why are you coming here this early, anyway? School starts at eight, not SIX!"

"I know it's not your 'legal' birthday," Hilde said, planting herself on the table and swinging her legs as she began to scrounge around in the cardboard box. "But I'm pretty sure your birthday isn't January first, aren't you? So, Quatre and I decided to make today be your birthday!" Duo blinked again, frowning.

"You do know you're insane, right?" She beamed at him, and pulled out a shiny blue package. "Present!" He ripped it open, to pull out yet another simple blade that matched the ones he still held, although loosely. "Thanks, Hil!" She smiled.

"No problem. So, who were you yelling at when you didn't know it was me…?" Duo actually blushed, and immediately Hilde was right in front of him, bouncing up and down. "Ooooh, details, details! Have you kissed yet? Is she cute? _Is_ it a she?" Duo groaned, and flopped down onto his bed, effectively storing the three knives next to and under his bed in the same motion.

"No, yes, no, now go away. I got two and a half hours of sleep, and I'm not wearing a shirt," Duo muttered through his pillow, and Hilde rolled her eyes.

"Gee, I hadn't noticed. It's not like I haven't seen you without a shirt on before! Now come on. Get dressed, and you can sleep in the car," she said, and flipped him out of the bed by pulling his foot hard. Another glare was sent her way, but Duo complied, grabbing random clothes from his dilapidated dresser and trudging into the bathroom. Without a thought, he undressed and stepped into the shower.

Of course, this was the exact time Heero decided to come, and knocked firmly on the door.

"I'll get it," Hilde shouted from where she'd been rummaging in one of the cabinets, and quickly opened the unlocked door to see angry blue eyes glaring at her. "…Hi?"

The glaring continued, and Hilde backed slowly into the room, only for a tall brunette to step in and save her from the Evil Thing. He nodded in her direction.

"Hello. This is Heero, and I'm Trowa. We're here to see Duo," he said cordially, and Hilde nodded quickly.

"He's in the shower. It's his birthday, so I…I'm here to take him out for breakfast," she said nervously, and the glaring Heero frowned. "Not his real birthday! Well, it might be, but his legal birthday's January 1st, since they didn't know when he was born, so we just choose a random…day…" Hilde swallowed nervously.

Heero quickly sized up the girl. Navy blue hair, dark eyes, nervous…and as far as he could tell, there was a tracking bug in her pocket she'd been ready to plant. His glare picked up again. "Leave."

Hilde glared right back. "YOU leave, you stupid psychopath! Duo's done with you guys," she snapped. "Three months in juvie was PLENTY, thank you very much, and I am NOT letting you idiots pull him back into that shit!"

Before Heero could growl out a response, the bathroom door creaked open, and a sleepy, slightly wet Duo stared at the scene. "Eh…hiya, guys. Meet Hilde. Hilde, Heero. Trowa, Hilde. They're from the lab."

Hilde, looking thoroughly ashamed, just uttered a frail "Oh."

Heero, however, completely dismissed her, sharp blue eyes fixed on the newly emerged high school student. "We have things to do," he stated, trying his hardest to ignore the way Duo's shirt still clung a bit to his chest. Duo shrugged, and landed back on the bed.

"After my birthday stuff," he shrugged, staring at his dilapidated ceiling. Heero grudgingly nodded, and Hilde made an aggravated sound.

"Breakfast, NOW," she snapped, and tugged Duo out of the bed again. "Quatre's meeting us there." Trowa immediately perked up.

"Quatre? Is he okay," he asked, and both Hilde and Duo rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, he's fine. Just a bit too decent for the world, is all," Hilde sighed, pulling at Duo's arm again to get him to his shoes. Finally he slapped her hand off and, muttering profanity, put his shoes on.

"How 'bout next 'birthday', you don't wake me up before SUNRISE," he growled, slipping a foot in, and Hilde chuckled. The other foot went in.

"Now where's the fun in that? Presents aren't free, you know!" Duo rolled his eyes.

"Right, and I'm a 900 year old woman," he snapped.

"You don't look a day over forty," Heero supplied, smirking, and Duo shot another glare at him.

"Shut up, Pyro."

"Make me."

"ENOUGH. Hilde, would it be okay if Heero and I joined you for breakfast? We'll pay for ourselves, of course," Trowa interjected, sick and tired of the ceaseless banter that followed the two explosion experts around whenever one of them opened their mouth. After only a moment of hesitation, Hilde nodded. "Thank you. I'll duct tape Heero's mouth shut."

"Oh, no, I think Duo's more of a problem than him. He just set himself up for that one," Hilde said, a smile slowly forming on her face. "Let's get going before they start biting each other."

"Hey!" Hilde rolled her eyes, and quickly pulled Duo out of the door.

x---x

Most of breakfast was absorbed by Heero and Duo's banter, and Hilde and Trowa holding them back from physical blows. Once Hilde had almost been too slow, and Duo was caught halfway onto the table, yelling insults.

Hilde rolled her eyes. "God, Duo, just go outside and kill each other already!" Two pairs of angry eyes glared at her.

"They're more hostile than before," Trowa commented in a hushed voice, sitting on Hilde's right. "They didn't attack each other before, I mean." Hilde nodded.

"What happened," she whispered back, and Trowa's green eyes shone for a moment.

"Heero ordered him," he replied, and Hilde chuckled.

"No wonder. If there's one thing you can't do, it's boss Duo Maxwell around," she said, barely loud enough to carry to the others at the table. "I can only do it because I'm actually his boss!" Trowa blinked. "Employer." He nodded, and the other two boys continued to eat their breakfasts, Duo doing his best to ignore Heero, and the scientist glaring at his food and nearly strangling his fork.

The bell above the restaurant's door jingled, and a flushed Quatre hurried through the door, smiling and carrying a present under his arm. A new green-yellow bruise was forming under his eye, but other than that he looked just like the young man they'd known before-a cheery, intelligent blonde who could charm the hair off an anteater.

"Happy Not-Birthday, Duo," Quatre beamed, and sat next to the braided underachiever, handing him the present in the process. When he looked around the table and saw Trowa, he was suddenly intent on Duo opening the gift, a healthy shade of pink creeping into his cheeks.

Duo chuckled. "Thanks, Quat," he said, and tore open the wrapping paper, grinning. "Shit! Thanks, Q!" He pulled out the box, and the two other boys stared as a bottle of nitroglycerine emerged, followed by C-4 and other explosives, along with two detonators and some wire. He grinned viciously. "This is gonna be FUN." Quatre laughed.

"I'm glad you like it. Just…be careful with it, this time," he said a bit nervously, and Duo actually cackled, eyes suddenly fixing onto Heero's.

"Oh, I have a VERY good idea of what to do with this," he said devilishly, and Heero glared darkly.

"Try it."

They both lunged for each other, and Hilde and Trowa snapped them back, having more than enough practice today. Quatre smiled.

"Oh, I'm so glad you made a new friend, Duo," he said cheerily, and everyone stared at the blonde, who blinked at them. "What? When I first met Duo, we got in a fistfight. Hilde held a gun on him when they first met. We've all been best friends since." Trowa nodded, eyes still intent on the blonde. Heero continued to squeeze the silver out of his utensil.

Trowa quickly looked over at Hilde. "Can you take care of them for a moment?" She nodded, and he quickly stood up. Just as quickly, he reached Quatre's chair and tugged him gently to his feet, ushering him out the door in the process.

"Trowa? What's wro-" Quatre was cut off when Trowa hugged him tightly.

"You scared me on the phone," he said quietly. "Don't do that."

Quatre, bright red, laughed nervously. "We barely know each other, Trowa."

"That doesn't mean I don't care about you."

"It should, though. You should always know what you're getting into."

Fierce green eyes looked into Quatre's aqua. "Then tell me."

The bruised blonde jerked away, glaring at Trowa. "You don't get it, do you? I can't…" He sighed, shaking his head. "Love and war are just different expressions of passion," he quoted softly, and finally looked back up at Trowa. His mouth broke into a bittersweet smile. "Let's take a walk."

x---x

The early morning air was crisp and clean, clinging to their skin as they strolled through the park. Random trees sprung from the trimmed grass, and their simple gravel path crushed beneath two pairs of shoes. The world smelled like stale peace- the telltale sign of a quickly fleeting fall.

Quatre sighed, lowering himself onto the iron bench that stalked their path. "How much do you already know," he asked, and Trowa shrugged, sitting next to the blonde with a hesitant grace.

"Duo said something about Monday being the boss' day, and that you fight something your father does because of your morals," Trowa answered easily. "Overall, not much."

Quatre leaned his head back against the bench. Closing his eyes and breathing in the quiet of newborn daylight, he began to speak. "To begin, the Winner family is the head of Winner Enterprises, one of the most wealthy corporations in the world. Approximately three-fifths of our revenue is created from our massive oil fields back in the Middle East.

"I have twenty-nine sisters, all of them older than me, and only two of us are from the official Mrs. Winner. Those two would be me, and my fourteenth sister Iria Winner, who is currently finishing up law school. The rest are from my father's massive network of mistresses and prostitutes-who, by the way, adore me. Every time one of them becomes pregnant, he claims the child." Quatre took another deep breath.

"Anyway, there's worse things in my family than a lack of monogamy. The other two-fifths of my family's enterprise is from anything and everything illegal." He laughed softly. "Whoever said crime doesn't pay wasn't in the right business. Drugs, prostitution, bribes, fixing sporting events, arms manufacturing…Winner Enterprises does it all, and does it for over two billion dollars a year." Trowa blinked.

"That's a lot of money," he said hesitantly, and Quatre chuckled.

"It's a lot of crime. And my father gives the government enough of an 'endorsement' that they look the other way." The blonde sighed.

"Every day's a different crime. Monday happens to be the day he does the only one I can even attempt to stop. My father gets his newest shipments of drugs delivered to the mansion, straight into the living room, and I can't just sit there and know that I'm profiting from that type of business. So, every Monday, I try to stop the shipment from coming." His eyes slid open. "Even though I always lose, at least I've tried to do _something_." Trowa nodded, a faint smile on his lips.

"I don't seen the big problem with having you around," he said easily, and Quatre smiled at him, yellow-green bruise crinkling painfully. "Seems interesting to know the heir to an Arabian cartel." The blonde laughed.

"Just wait until winter. That's when the assassins roll around and I go into hiding," he said, and Trowa's smile widened, eyes turning comfortably back to the somewhat cloudy sky.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

x---x

(A/N: Just so you know, we're skipping a bit of time here, 'bout twelve hours or so. Yes, the school day was skipped, but you hear all about it eventually, so no worries.)

Duo chuckled at the fuming scientist as they walked back to Base Zero (as he'd named the Destruction Experimentation Lab, since it was both Headquarters and Ground Zero for anything and everything that went on in his suddenly far more complicated life). "You were the one who said I could make up your excuse," he reminded, and Heero's back tensed.

"I. Know," he growled, slamming the lab door open so hard it bounced back on the wall and nearly slammed them back into the hallway. Furious blue eyes glared the door back into its usual position, and he strode over to his desk. Practically hurling himself into the padded rolling chair he usually occupied, his chocolate head slammed down against the top. "I hate you."

Duo grinned, settling himself down onto the usual countertop and lounging, just to annoy the doctor that extra nudge. "Mutual, shnookums," he cooed, and a piece of broken glass was launched at his head. The underachiever dodged easily, batting his long dark eyelashes at Heero. "Awww, come now, pet. Play nice."

"I'm going to stuff rabid jellyfish down your pants," Heero stated. Duo blinked.

"That'd be squishy," he confided. "Squishy, and uncomfortable. And wouldn't that just ruin my cute little ass you admire so oft-"

A beaker of…_something_ crashed millimeters from his head, and with a yelp Duo dove to the floor, barely avoiding a small, lethal explosion.

He winced. Okay, so maybe his excuse had been a bad idea, Duo admitted. "Shit, Heero, can't you take a joke?!" Another beaker sailed straight for him, and Duo rolled to the side just as the floor he'd been crouched on began to hiss.

Honestly, it had started out as a simple joke. Principal Heller had always been a sucker for a tragic romance…

x-x

"_We were happy together, until his family came in to the picture," Duo said truthfully…just, not about Heero. But the fool behind the desk didn't have to know he was talking about him and Quatre's first year as best friends. "So, he came to live with me." He switched back to Heero. "I just can't abandon him! He's protected me for so long" -Too long, Duo's brain supplied- "and now it's time I repaid the favor." Also known as revenge._

_Principal Heller looked with heart-felt eyes at the "young couple" of Heero (who was glaring a hole through Duo's foot) and Duo (who was busy looking as pathetic, desperate, and wimpy as possible). "Of course he can study here with you when he's not working." _

_Duo had forced his eyes to start to tear. "Oh, thank you, Principal Heller! I won't forget this." Yeah…won't forget your stupidity, you emotional, over-promoted twit, Duo thought, as Principal Heller handed them the forms with a magnanimous smile._

"_I'm always happy to help those in need," she said, her eyes starting to tear up._

_Duo barely restrained his laughter as she handed him a tissue._

"_Welcome to Saparta High, Mr. Yuy," she said._

_Heero glared, and walked out the door._

x-x

So what if they'd had to carry the act out all day? It got Heero what he wanted, didn't it? All it had cost was a bit of humiliation…Besides, almost every single human in that school was scared stiff of Duo Maxwell the Ex-Con. They wouldn't dare mess with him or his 'boyfriend'.

Duo's thoughts were interrupted when he found himself pinned against the wall, a fuming Heero Yuy glaring at him. Duo glared right back. "Let go of me!" His voice could barely escape, the scientist's grip on his neck was so firm.

Surprisingly, Heero backed up a bit, giving Duo enough room to breathe, but still keeping him firmly locked into the corner. He took a deep breath, barely containing his rage. "Why?" His voice was dark, riddled with both suppressed anger and a hint of something the braided boy just couldn't understand. And his eyes…they screamed at him.

Duo shook his head violently, clenching his eyelids tightly. "You crazy bastard! What do you mean, 'why'?! You were fucking CHOKING me! Not to mention throwing explosive shit at me! Damn it, He-"

"Why." His voice rang clear and deep like an abandoned bell. Duo's eyes snapped open, glaring venomously.

"Why the fuck not?" Heero blinked. "Why shouldn't I, Heero?! Why do you get to command me into all this crap, and I can't destroy your life two days out of the week?"

Heero shook his head, backing up to sit back down in his chair. "Why did you choose that, Duo?"

He froze. "Umm…" Frantic violet eyes scanned the lab for another exit. Broken window…nope, two stories up. Side door…no, led to the Vacuum Chamber of Doom. That left the main door, the one Heero had a trigger for on his desk. Could he make it?

Heero's head slammed onto the desk, and Duo bolted for the door. As it snapped shut behind him, he continued to sprint down the hall, mute to all but his violently beating heart.

So, it wasn't very surprising when he crashed into an intern, hurling them both onto the floor roughly. "Owwwww," Duo groaned, getting up and rubbing his aching head.

Angry black eyes glared at him, and then blinked, astonished. "What are you doing here?!" Duo frowned…ohhh, right, the 'spy' Heero pummeled. Chang Wufei. The black-haired biochemist seized him by the shoulders, looking almost frantic. "He's visiting the Peacecraft onna, right? He's not here?" Duo frowned. What the hell was an onna?

"Peacecraft-oh, the princess crazy," Duo nodded, and Wufei breathed in deeply, arms lowering back to his sides. "Nah, Heero's in the lab…what?" The unstable young man had frozen again. In a jerky movement, he stared at his watch, then glared at Duo again.

"IDIOT!!" he yelled, and tore off towards the lab, Duo not far behind. Wufei then stopped after another glance at his watch, grabbing Duo and throwing them both to the ground, screaming "SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!"

And just as the second hand clinked cheerily 3:04 PM, the world erupted into searing flames that roared through the halls, all emanating from the Destruction Experimentation lab.

x---x

A/N: Muwahahahah…Now, on to clarifying some stuff:

_Why doesn't the principal remember Heero? _Come on. My mom used to work for the school district, and my principal has no idea what my name is. You think Heller'd remember someone she met a couple days ago just for a few minutes? My answer's no.

_Did the lab really blow up?! _Damn right it did! (insert maniacal laughter) _SO HEERO'S DEAD?! _…Could there possibly be any 1x2 goodness if he was? Wait. No, let's not think about that…(shudder). Ick. Have a little faith, please…

And just for fun: MY VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENED TO 7, 8, 10, & 12!

Cue the cheesy 60's "Dating Game" background music!

Meet pilot 07. He likes croquet, tennis, and his mobile suit, The Bunny. Oh, wait, what's that little thing flying to earth like a meteor from L5? Pilot 7 goes to investiga-AAAAH! IT'S A GUNDAM!!! (insert battle with lots of lasers, 'cuz I like that "bweee" sound). And he dies. I mean, come on, The Bunny vs. Shenlong?

Meet pilot 08. She's Noin's little sister, and also likes croquet. In fact, she's all smoochy with Pilot 7. So, to avenge 7 & The Bunny, she goes off in the Pretty But Pathetic Angel to kill Shenlong (& poor 'Fei). (insert battle). Oh, no! She's dead, because she never went to military school and isn't nearly coordinated enough to see through hair like her sister's!

And, pilot 10. One of Q's sisters, she steals one of the Manganac's MS. They find out…(insert battle, this time with lots o' explosions.) Poor Winner girl…never stood a chance without the Goggles of Desert Dominion…

And finally, Pilot 12! (Annoyed yet?) Pagan's son gets sick and tired of rolling around in a hideous pink limo, so he turns the spare into a hideous two-seat pink MS and flies it around instead. Trowa saves humanity from the horror by gunning it down over the Pacific.

But, then they decided to cut 'em out for brevity's sake and just let the numbers (and their much-neglected memories) fade away. How sad.

Okay, that's done now. What can I say? I got Endless Waltz for Christmas, so I've watched that waaay too many times. It's 2:57 AMon New Years Day! Happy 2005! (And don't think I'm pathetic for being home on New Years. I did go to a party, but ugh. Society boys hitting on me and feeling like they're better since they got to Harvard on Daddy's Money is NOT fun…well, to me at least. I prefer a brain, not a walking 1800's thesaurus, thank you very much. Philosophy is one thing, but belligerent pigheadedness is another. Uh, I'm done ranting now, by the way. Sorry…blush)

Sorry this A/N is so long. I'm so tired I'm awake…if you know what I mean.

READER RESPONSES! WOOO! You guys are great!

Kaaera: IT'S STILL BROKEN! Arrgh. The stupid repairman told me to basically screw my current compy and get a new one, which I can't afford. Anyway, it's always a pleasure to read your reviews! So glad you like Prodigy.

Ms trick: Cookies are good, aren't they? See, I think it's all about the chocolate, personally. Yum. Thanks for reviewing again!

DK-Adeena: Company property? Ooooh, scary. Yeah, not something to blow up. And I like fire too, as pyromaniac-ish as that sounds. But hey, it's pretty!

ZaKai: Thank you! Sorry to have made you wait for more.

Choco-penguin: I already talked to you! YAY! And you reviewed again for Ch. 5! YAY AGAIN! You're fun. Thanks for reviewing THREE TIMES! Hooray!

Memeal: I really hope you're not the mule in the metaphor…And thank you so much for liking what I write/do/all that. How do you get Novembered out, by the way? (Just curious.) Thanks for reviewing!

Windy River: I try, I try…

Destirinity: Raberba? Thank you SOOOO much! I've been agonizing over that for a long time. And you LOVE ME! Awww! (glomp).

Shadowsong rules: Thank you! I tried to update quickly, but life just hates me some times.

Oli: I personally believe that all of the pilots are geniuses. After all, to pilot a vehicle that is a weapon, airplane, AND capable of space flight you'd have to be. Duo just doesn't show it. I think it's just another part of the ever-pointed-to Jester Mask. Sorry if this sounds ranty; I'm trying very hard to not be.

Scotty-lass: Awww! You think I'm brilliant! Thank you very much!

Ahanchan: Precious is still broken! Uh…that's Compy's pet name. But hey, I updated anyway! YAY!

TKM: Thank you! As always, a pleasure to hear from you.

Lolly sister: Oh! Someone who likes my humor! Thank you!

Mistress Koishii: (glomps right back). Oooh, a stabbing. That might actually work for something else later on…Oh, and Mongolia's Ninja Army of Science refers back to in the Biker Beatnik bar when they're talking about why Heero's following Duo around. And don't worry about William Carlos Williams. He writes short poems that are about concrete, everyday things that everybody thinks are referring back to some deep meaningful thing.

Shinimegami-025: …Eep. Flamethrower…(backs away) I'm sorry to make you wait even longer. I try, I really do, but sometimes life just decides to smash your face into asphalt. And no, Q is NOT a prostitute!

Ink2: Although I can see where you're getting this prostitution thing from, no. Wait, this chapter had the explanation…(blushes) sorry.

FreakOfImagination: Wow, I get thanked for updating QUICKLY! You're a gem among people and muses! Thank you!

WhiteRaven6: Ooooo…interesting interpretation. You're close on some points, but overall, no. (I'd point them out, but then I'd be Spoiling you.) Thank you very much for reviewing!

ZmajGoddess: I hope you liked my little version of what happened to the Missing Numbers. And as always, I try to update as quickly as possible! Thanks for reviewing again!

KawaiiTenshi27: Aren't they?! AH! I just love 3x4! So…cute…! And hey, not speedy, but it's quality over quantity, right? (hopeful smile)

Oh Slashy One: You know, this is pretty funny. I'm just as chatted out as you are now. So, thank you very much for reviewing!

That was a LOT of responses…(faints)(Dante pops out, slaps Lu-chan upside the head)(Jerks back awake) AHEM!

THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW!

HAPPY 2005! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! (glomps everyone in a tired, happy stupor.)

(Oh, and if anyone's looking for rabid plot bunnies, I'm your gal. My Pet Project (which Mistress Koishii and Mlaine were kind enough to be betaing for me) is officially dead, since I just don't feel up to writing the damn thing. So, want a beautifully depressing plot bunny to bite you? Email me, please. luchia9293 without the spaces, but we all knew that.)


	7. Affirmation

A/N: Yeah, updated _just_ a few days late…heh. Sorry all.

Much thanks to Keiran for pointing out that Otto, Lackey Extraordinaire, could be considered Pilot 08; I'd completely forgotten about him. If anyone else finds inconsistencies and such (that aren't deliberate, such as Wimpy Hilde vs. Ch. 2 Hilde), please point them out. Thanks again!

OKAY! The official pairings for this fic (since I've **finally** committed to them) are (_italics_ means past/ex relationship) 1x2x1, 3x4, _3xMidii_, 5x2, 5x13, 5xSally, _5xMeiran_ (yes, 'Fei gets around), 6x9, 13x11, _1Relena_, and others, but these are the big(ish) ones. Yeah, if you can't tell, we're barely into the story, and there's no end in sight…(blush). Also, WAY in advance, I officially ask for help from Sally Po fans. I have a bit o' trouble with getting in her brain, so…yeah.

Warnings: Dark-ish (Heero DID get blown up, after all), and 3x4 KISS! OH the joy! Well, it's kind of 43, but hey. Still good. Also, More Profanity than Normal ('Fei is such a potty mouth...), Sleepy OOC. Length, too; just one long, long chapter.

Prodigy

Chapter 7

Affirmation

x---x

Fire licked hungrily at the walls, reflecting in Agent Wufei Chang's wide, angry black eyes. This wasn't supposed to have happened. The idiots had screwed them all, and he was stuck with-

Something rammed him to the tiled floor, and instinctively Wufei turned to land on his back. Violent purple eyes burned at him, and a knife was pressed to his throat.

"What the FUCK is going on?!"

With a roar, Wufei threw the other boy off him, but the other boy just rammed him into the smoldering wall. The flames teased his skin and clothes, random flickers of searing pain. "ANSWER ME! I know you know something!"

He glared at the barely-visible hand pressing the side of his face against the wall. "We can either kill each other, or try to save Yuy," he growled, and the other boy froze.

"Heero."

Training took over and Wufei took advantage of the boy's shock. Growling, he shoved himself backwards with an incredible amount of force, effectively slamming the braided boy's back into the opposite wall, only to have a hand grab his tight black ponytail and yank him right next to his opponent. Those same angry purple eyes smoldered at him.

Blackness descended as something hard and very, very forceful smashed itself against his head.

x---x

As soon as he'd knocked Wufei out, Duo's brain switched gears. Heero was in trouble, possibly burning alive, and it was the spy's fault. Spies had information, so it'd be a good idea to keep him around. But what was more important, the information from a spy who'd just tried to kill him, or the life of a genius who actually might give a shit?

Duo snorted. Yeah, that decision took all of four milliseconds. He barely watched Wufei fall to the floor as he took off running into the flames.

After what seemed to be an eternity of running, his feet stopped as he stumbled upon his quarry. "Heero…"

The scientist sat against a blank, fireless wall that was actually a considerable distance away from his lab, black ash and smoke clinging to him. Blue eyes glanced back at him, barely noticing his existence as they faded in and out of dark coherency. He blinked, confused, as he whispered "…Duo?"

"Yeah, it's me," Duo said quickly, not letting himself worry about Heero just yet. The remaining few feet were eaten by a purposeful, quick stride. "Can you stand up on your own?"

Heero blinked, and before he could begin to speak began to cough hard, deep coughs that seemed close to dry heaves. Duo, under any other circumstances, would have laughed. That was definitely a no.

"Come on, Heero," Duo tried to coax, grabbing both of the other boy's arms and hoisting him up onto his feet. The coughing intensified, sending a sliver into the student's heart. This was bad. "Come on, buddy, we gotta make it out of here." Close to carrying him, Duo managed to act as a human crutch while also holding Heero upright, thanking whatever divine power listening that they were nearly the same size.

But, after four more steps, Heero collapsed, kneeling on the floor through another coughing fit. Before Duo could pull him up again, Heero managed to grab the other boy's arm, effectively bringing Duo down with it. Hazy, confused blue eyes blinked into violet. "Relena. T-" he was cut off by another coughing fit. "T-tell Relena. Du…Duo…" Eyes rolling into the back of his head, Heero Yuy fell the rest of the way down to the floor.

"FUCK," Duo yelled out, and grabbed Heero by the waist, pulling him towards Wufei and the nearest exit as fast as he could. The fire screamed at his already-sooty ears as he dragged the scientist through the burning halls of Saparta Laboratories.

Time stretched on, and his strength seemed to slowly seep out into the hungry flames. Duo coughed. "It's your fault, you know," he muttered to the unconscious burden in his arms. "I coulda been at my apartment, or at Quat's, or somewhere with Hilde, or just sitting around- I haven't gotten to do that for a while, thanks to you, you bastard-but _nooo_, I have to go be smart for a half hour and get caught up in all this shit." He shuffled through a burning doorframe, yanking Heero through along with him. Another cough. How far had he run, anyway? "All you do is get me into trouble. Hell, I have plenty of it without you bringing even more crap into my life." And another cough, this one harder. "And what is this thing of yours with the pink bitch?" He hoisted them both over some fallen wreckage. There were screams in the distance. Duo chuckled. "You really shouldn't be worth this."

Heero coughed. Another burning doorframe.

Duo's eyes fluttered. God it was hot, and Heero weighed more than anything else he'd ever carried. "You alive?" How long had he been doing this? And where the _hell_ was the fire department?!

More coughing. "D…uo…"

Somehow he'd ended up on his knees. When had that happened? Heero's arms twisted around, one dropping onto the crackling linoleum and another barely touching Duo's side, whispering across it. Blurry, half-conscious blue eyes met violet and a morbid smirk. "Hey." Duo's voice was broken by some more coughing. "Always thought I'd-" more coughing "-die doing something cooler."

Heero's eyes fluttered, mid-faint. "Got to…move," he whispered hoarsely. "…close." More hacking coughs erupted from the scientist's tortured throat, but Heero began to try and push himself up off the floor, using Duo as a support. Finally, Duo managed to stagger onto his feet, leaning as heavily on Heero as Heero was leaning on him.

Duo began to talk again, trying to make sure they remained conscious long enough to make it to Wufei and out the door. "I don't like fire," Duo's voice grated over the flames. Another few steps. "It burns things."

A small, feeble smile appeared on Heero's face. "Like us."

Duo normally would have burst out laughing, even just from the fact Heero actually had a sense of humor, but he decided to half another hacking fit.

By now, they were more squatting-walking than actually walking. The smoke seemed to stick to the ceiling like coffee-flavored gum on the bottom of a desk. Their shoulders and arms were wrapped around each other as close to crawled along the floor. When Duo wasn't coughing, he was rasping out anything and everything that came to mind. And when Duo was coughing, Heero was talking.

For what seemed like months, the two scuttled their way through the fiery hall, until they made it to right where Duo had left Wufei crumpled on the floor.

The white-clad boy- or, at least his clothes _had _been white; now they were more of a gray- was still unconscious, and Duo didn't know if he should be happy or angry with that. "We gotta drag him out," he croaked. A miniscule nod came from Heero's ashy head, and the two released each other.

Heero crumpled onto the floor the moment he lost contact. "SHIT!" Damn it! His throat hurt, he just wanted to lie down and sleep, and now he had to carry TWO unconscious idiots to his car. Hell, at least the door was only about six feet away…

Duo grabbed Wufei first, and deciding that he needed a door prop more than anything else leaned him onto the door. It opened, and Duo took in a deep breath-only to gasp, choke, and cough some more. He didn't have time for anything else, so he grabbed Heero by the wrist and yanked him out the door too.

Not letting go of the injured scientist's strangely coarse wrists, he somehow managed to pull him all the way to his car (another 40 feet from the door) and quickly maneuver him into the back seat- only to do a double take at the arm lying limply out the door, hanging mid-air.

In the late afternoon sun, Duo could make out the telltale white ridges on Heero's wrist, which followed his veins nearly exactly.

Duo shook his head angrily. He didn't have the time to examine cut marks! Practically throwing himself into the driver's seat, Duo drove up onto the cement path he'd left Wufei lying on, and threw him into the other side of the back seat. After buckling his seatbelt with shaking hands, the student tore off towards the only secure place he could think of.

x---x

"…Hello, Wufei," a voice came through the darkness, and his eyelids rose at a snail's pace- a drunk snail that kept going in reverse, apparently. His eyes were snapped open when the voice came again. "Chang. Wake up." Wufei's eyes opened obediently.

First thing he noticed was the boy with the braid straddling a chair right in front of him, malicious purple eyes staring straight into his soul and passing judgment. Second thing he noticed were the ropes tying him to a chair, which was also tied to the refrigerator door in a tiny studio apartment. Wufei looked back at the boy in front of him, trying his best to glare through the throbbing pain in his head (the third thing he noticed). "What?"

A grin appeared on the boy's face. "You're gonna pay for what you did to Yuy."

Wufei blinked. "I didn't do it."

"Don't think denial will get you out of anything, you bastard. You tried to burn him alive!"

He snarled. "I didn't DO IT!"

Purple eyes rolled, and for the first time Wufei realized this was just a kid. Possibly an exploitable kid. "Right, and if you didn't do it, who did?"

The agent snorted. "I'm more afraid of them than you by a long shot." He immediately regretted the words when a violent, malicious glint appeared in indigo eyes. A knife appeared out of nowhere, and red flew everywhere.

"FUCK! YOU FUCKING CUT MY EAR OFF, YOU BA-" Wufei cut himself off when he realized the other man was laughing so hard tears were falling. The black-eyed boy's head whipped to the side, and he cursed again.

The knife had flown towards him, and landed just a centimeter from his left ear, ripping a good hole in the refrigerator door- and the ketchup bottle behind it. Fucking KETCHUP.

Wufei decided then and there, he did NOT like whoever this bastard was. The intimidation had worked, goddamn it, and in the process he ended up looking like a coward.

But, before he could inform the idiot, he found himself (or, the door he was attached to, at least) turned 90 degrees…and staring straight at the form of Heero Yuy, PhD, near comatose in the double bed jammed in the corner.

And just as quickly, he was back in the same position, staring back at the same annoyance as before. The only difference was a nondescript can clutched in his hand. "So. Now that you've made a complete ass of yourself, tell me who did this, if it wasn't you."

Wufei glared, but responded. "I don't know, other than it's a she, and as far as I know not affiliated with me," he stated coolly, trying to annoy the man into attacking. But, truth be told, the agent really DIDN'T know much about the other agent. It was a safety precaution, should anything bad happen. His glare intensified. One example of "bad" would be ending up like this.

A lesser man would have snarled. Instead, Wufei made a mental note to kick his own ass when he was free.

The other man sighed melodramatically. "Well then. I guess there's no point in keeping you alive." Wufei smirked.

"Oh, right, so that's why I'm tied to a refrigerator door for a full-term stay." Violet eyes twitched.

"Don't make me more pissed than I already am. You won't like what happens."

Wufei sneered. "I do what I want!" A whisper in the back of his head screaming "YOU IDIOT!" was the only warning the spy had before a fist collided with his head one more time.

Wufei was knocked out. Again.

x---x

"Want to go get ice cream?"

Quatre nearly jumped out of his skin, one hand reaching out to grab the intruder's arm in a death grip while the other flew to his shoulder holster…and then he realized it was Trowa. Forcing a laugh, Quatre turned back to his boyfriend, blushing and praying Trowa hadn't noticed. But, from the amused glint in those emerald eyes, he'd noticed.

His forced laugh turned to an uneasy chuckle. "Training," he explained. Trowa nodded, more than accepting of the answer.

"I'll be careful, then," he said, serious. Quatre smiled up at him. Somehow, Trowa seemed to understand everything about him without batting an eyelash. Quatre grabbed the other boy's hand, entwining it with his own. In turn, Trowa gave him a quiet smile. "So, do you want to get ice cream?" Aqua eyes glanced down at his watch. School would be over in twenty minutes or so, and it wasn't like he'd be missed from study hall, so Quatre smiled and nodded. Trowa smiled. "Great."

They clambered into Trowa's trusty sedan, and took off at a safe but above-average speed. "So how much training do you have," the green-eyed boy asked, and Quatre blinked, wary.

"Enough, I guess…why?" Trowa shrugged.

"It just seems like everyone has their secrets, is all," he said. In anyone else, Quatre would have though it was just simple thinking aloud. But, in even the small amount of time they'd known each other, the blonde had learned that Trowa Barton NEVER said anything he didn't think needed to be said. From small talk to science (Quatre was interested in psychology, while Trowa was an up-and-coming zoology student).

But, before Quatre could ask what the comment had been about, Trowa had pulled up to a small stand- practically a shack, really- next door to a sunny park. There were sirens in the distance, but there were always sirens around when you lived in a college town.

"What's your flavor, dearie?" A gentle middle-aged woman was smiling down at him expectantly. Honestly, Quatre couldn't even remember getting out of the car he'd been that out of it.

"Oh, um, strawberry, please," he finally said, shaking himself out of the mental stupors that seemed to jump on him randomly. The woman scooped a less-than-healthy helping into a cone and handed it to the heir.

"Oregon blackberry," Trowa said calmly, but the woman had already scooped him the cone of pink-purple ice cream, handing it to him with a teasing smile. "Thank you." She beamed at him.

"You're always more than welcome, Trowa. I'll put both of them on your tab." Another two slash marks went on an already surprisingly full piece of paper, "BARTON/BLOOM" written neatly on the top.

They found their way to a comfortable bench easy enough. The weather had warmed up considerably since that morning, and a pleasantly cool breeze seemed to whisper through the cracks in the wooden bench.

"What I meant was that everyone's so fond of hiding the truth," Trowa explained, shocking Quatre into thinking telepathy wasn't that unbelievable. "Duo, Heero, you, me; we all do it without even thinking. And it'll probably end up hurting us." Quatre nodded.

"Lies do that. It's one of the reasons Duo and I try to tell as much of the truth as possible," Quatre agreed, and started on his ice cream just as Trowa did on his own. The blonde frowned. "What is that ice cream, anyway?"

Shocked green eyes met his own mid-lick, Trowa's nose getting a dollop of dessert on it. "You've never had Oregon blackberry?" Quatre shook his head, and the cone was immediately thrust into his face. "Eat. NOW. Or you'll be missing out on one of the best things in life."

Quatre grinned, and quickly leaned forward to lick a bit of the renowned ice cream off Trowa's nose. When that was done, a blushless Quatre took the offered ice cream cone, biting half of it off and chewing happily. "Mmm, that's good."

Meanwhile, Trowa was redder than the approaching sunset. "What part?"

A falsely pensive look appeared on Quatre. First, he checked the flavor of the remaining ice cream with a good lick. After a "Hmm…" of decision, Quatre leaned over again and gave Trowa a quick kiss on the lips. Another "Hmm…" followed, giving Trowa time to turn ever redder, and Quatre shrugged, looking a tinge embarrassed.

"I'd say it's mostly you. This ice cream's horrible…"

They stared at each other, letting the remaining ice cream melt without a second's thought.

"You insulted my ice cream."

"I thought you'd be-"

Quatre was cut off by the hum of his cell phone. His EMERGENCY cell phone. He was up off the bench and on his phone in a heartbeat.

"Duo? What's wrong?"

The voice on the other line sounded haggard, tired- not the usual Duo Maxwell, for certain. "Ugh…you and Tro up for some babysitting? One's in a coma and the other's getting beaten unconscious every time he wakes up." A yawn. "And after dragging these bastards through fires and shit, I deserve a nap."

Quatre grabbed Trowa's hand, and began to pull them back towards the car. "We'll be there soon." They climbed in, and Duo yawned again.

"Thanks, Q. See you soon and all that shit." Duo's phone hung up, and Quatre's followed suit.

x---x

A/N: Oregon Blackberry ice cream really is good. If you haven't had any, go to Good Times and get some. It's yummy.

NOW! After either Ch. 9 or 10, depending on when a specific event happens, I'll be putting up the Quatre Special! Now, if you don't know what my specials are, they're basically an extra chapter with snippets solely from one main character's life that I usually just don't get in to for some reason or other. (I'm thinking it'll probably be every 5 chapters or so that I put one up.)

If you want me to answer questions or anything, leave your AIM name; that's about the only thing I'm attentive enough to use. Or, if you just want to ask me something and not leave your own name, I am "luchia929a3". That's the easiest way to get in touch with me…aside from reviewing (hopeful face).

READER RESPONSES! (Good transition, ne?)

Kaaera: You know, it's funny. You can't stop sneezing, and I have the hiccups. They hurt. Anyway, wow, you play an instrument? I'm impressed. I'm happy when I can hum in tune. And there's no way I'd ever dare to write Prodigy on my parents' computer. (shudder) Scary…

Keiran: Thank you again for the correction! 1x2 is coming up pretty soo, too! YAY!

Ink2: Oh, yeah. Hilde's a "different side" for a good reason. Sorry if that disappoints.

Mystixdeathangel: Glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing.

Shinimegami-025: Heheheh…you're weird in a good way. And no worries! It's completely understandable; I just hadn't been thinking about Q that way is all. Sorry if I scared you.

ms trick: I TRY to update quickly! Really! (cries)

Windy River: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO! YAY!

ZaKai: I hope this chapter's also worth the wait, then. Thank you very much for reviewing!

KawaiiTenshi27: Honestly, NOBODY can write enough in a review, in my opinion. The longer the better! Even if it is about their pet Chihuahua eating linguini or something. And no worries; 1x2 is DEFINITELY coming around soon. YAY!

Heero: Thank you!

Unknown person who didn't put their name but I'm responding anyway: No, Heero didn't blow up the lab, but it's completely understandable to think so. Thanks for reviewing; next time put your name so I can actually, you know, RESPOND. (shameless grin)

kidishcaresh: I think fire is a VERY good thing too. Happy 2005! Thanks for reviewing; sorry I'm not prompt.

Ahanchan: I TRY to update quickly! It just never happens and I end up having papers to write instead. Thanks for reviewing!

FreakofImagination: Oooo, flamethrower. That WOULD be nice to have. And thank you very much for thinking of my sister. You get some Oregon Blackberry!

gods sent angel: Eep! (hides) Uh, thanks for loving it. And reviewing!

Memeal: Awww, you're so nice! (hug) You know, I've never seen Fruits Basket. Is it any good? I mean, I've heard good things, but only from people who also like Hamtaro. Honestly, those little hamsters creep me out. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Serena429: Thanks! Thanks for reviewing!

Mistress Arts: Awwww! You like me! You really like me! (hug) Thank you SO much for reviewing; you made my day. And I love sugar too, but it's CHOCOLATE that makes the world go 'round, or at least that's what I think. Thanks again!

Son of twilight: Hmm…quiero hablar en espanol ahora. Tu hablas en espanol, no? Que divertido! Muchas gracias por Mr. Review! (Y losiento por mi espanol malo. No hablo en este lingua por muchos, muchos anos. Como, 3-5 anos…(blush))

Choco-penguin: (glare) WRITE YOUR STORY ALREADY! YOU'RE TORTURING ME! (cries)

Wow…I have 111 reviews! That's SO COOL! (Glomps everyone…again!) THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW!!!

And look how early I'm getting this up, too! Go me!


	8. Thicken

A/N: Welcome to Ch. 8! For some reason, this chapter reminds me of Maine…Go figure. Anyway, I'd like to apologize for Ch. 7. I forgot to proofread the last scene- the _kiss_ scene, mind you- and I feel very, very bad about how my writing went downhill. Sorry, all.

Oh, and just if you're curious, The Scene was originally gonna be held until Ch. 9, since I figured it wouldn't do for us to go from 3x4 straight into the 1x2 (kind of a, 'hey, they did it, now let's do it too!' type of feeling). But, then I wrote the chapter and slapped myself upside the head. It got put in here…Or, in other words, everyone owes me chocolate for being oh so very nice and giving you the Heero Duo goodness. (Shameless grin)

And while I'm thinking ahead, does anyone know where I could put up a NC-17 version of chapters in the future? If you do know (or want to be nice and host it yourself…hopeful look), PLEASE tell me. I'd like to know I have an option before I start putting citrus in the timeline.

Warnings: Length, Excessive cuddling and 3x4, Lack of Wufei Even Though He's Always In The Scene (sorry 'Fei fans), WAY Too Much Sleeping, and afore mentioned 1x2! YAAY!

Prodigy

Chapter 8

Thicken

x-x

As soon as Quatre had gotten out his extra key to Duo's apartment (which Trowa was very proud of himself for not overreacting to) and opened the door, a single outburst summed up the way the couple found the…other couple.

"_Awwwwww_!"

A cuter, cuddlier sound couldn't exist in the world, and Trowa was so busy thinking about what other sounds he could have Quatre making that it took a quick punch on the arm for him to look inside the rented room.

Wufei was tied up to a chair with what looked like duct tape, and that duct taped chair was also duct taped to the refrigerator door (which had a suspiciously shaped hole next to Wufei's head). Nothing particularly warm and fuzzy about that, especially considering the very unhealthy bruises forming on his face. Hopefully the llama tranquilizer pills he'd brought would solve that problem.

But, when his gaze shifted to the decrepit wrought-iron double bed, Trowa smiled. Heero was unconscious on the bed, mouth parted slightly and eyebrows twitching as his feet randomly twitched under the sheets. On top of the sheets, Duo was curled around Heero's gray-covered form protectively, muttering silently to himself as he slept.

"You'd never guess they hate each other," Trowa muttered quietly (just in case one of the others woke up), and Quatre grinned at him, shaking his head.

"That's just how Duo works," he said just as quietly, pulling one of the two mismatched chairs from the foldout table that served as Duo's dining area. His own was a faded yellow with big green flowers on the frayed cushions, and when Trowa pulled out a chair the thing was the same design, except Duo had apparently gotten around to painting it entirely black, just like Wufei's chair.

"You mean it's all an act," Trowa asked, and Quatre shook his head again, trying unsuccessfully to get comfortable.

"No. Duo doesn't even really realize he does it," Quatre explained. "There's a reason nobody tried to turn him into their bitch or something when he was in jail. Well, more than one, but the central one is that he's dangerous. That, and he has to feel like his friends are safe." Trowa frowned.

"Who's safe? Duo, or his friends?"

Quatre smiled. "Both. If they can fight him, he figures they can defend themselves." The smile drooped a little. "But…I haven't seen him ever like this, I'll admit."

Trowa shook his head, looking first at the two on the bed, then at Wufei. After another look at the two on the bed, he smiled at Quatre. "He's just as twisted as Heero, then." Quatre leaned in to hear the story. "First time I met him was on a tour of the labs last year. I took a wrong turn and stumbled into his lab. Before I knew it I was running for my life. I ended up locked in his vacuum chamber for three hours while he interrogated me." He chuckled. "Ever since he let me out, he's been my best friend."

Quatre beamed at him. "That's great. Well, a little unorthodox, but a great way to…argh! You know what I mean," he said, settling back into the chair, which suddenly yelped at him. Quatre jumped to his feet with a yelp, back pressed against the wall.

Trowa was too busy laughing to notice when Duo's eyes slit open. He yawned, and then went back to sleep, deciding he was far too comfy to move just yet.

Laughing at himself, Quatre slid from the wall and plopped down on the decrepit couch.

"I hope you don't think any less of me," he said good-naturedly, and Trowa sat down right next to him, still smiling brightly. "And it's not just me, you know. That chair eats people." Trowa nodded, as serious-looking as he could muster.

"I promise I'll protect you from the Quatre-Eating Chair," he said gravely, and Quatre broke out into chuckles. An arm slid out to pull Quatre closer. "Does the TV work?" The blonde shrugged.

"Probably not," he said, and it suddenly turned to a yawn. "Besides, he doesn't have a remote, so you'd have to get up and switch the channel."

Trowa nodded. "Not worth the effort, then." Quatre yawned again, and glanced down at his watch. It was only about six, and he was dead tired all of a sudden. Maybe it was the now-all-out cuddling. "Go ahead and take a nap. I'll watch them."

Quatre's aqua eyes smiled up at him. "You're so good to me."

Trowa smiled, and kissed him softly on the forehead. "You deserve better. Go to sleep." Quatre did just that, his breath slowing into the comforting beat of a living metronome while Trowa ended up with him practically in his lap…which he wasn't about to complain about.

x-x

After what seemed like far too short a time, Duo woke to the warmth of someone else in his bed. A lazy smile on his face quickly disappeared when he saw it was Heero Yuy. Profanity flew through his brain right along with the memory of the fire.

Duo lurched away, landing with a thunk on his floor.

A soft chuckle made his head twist to see Trowa and Quatre cuddled up on his loveseat, Quatre smiling in his sleep and Trowa inaudibly laughing. Duo glared, standing with all the dignity he could muster while half-asleep and disheveled.

But, before Duo could snap that silent smile off his face, Trowa spoke.

"He followed you."

Duo blinked. His brain was always so fuzzy in the morning. "Huh?" he garbled out, sounding more like "Hmunngh?"

"Heero. He chased after you. That's the only thing that could have gotten him safely out of the lab before the explosion." Trowa's green eyes pierced his morning grogginess, making sure the next sentence would echo in his thoughts. "Heero went after you, and it saved his life."

Duo's mouth dropped open, speechless.

"…Think about it when you're more awake." Duo nodded, not really registering the fact he was crawling _into _the bed now, and too tired to really even notice that he was curled back up around the scientist before he was asleep again.

x-x

The next morning, sunlight burned his eyelids open, only to groan, throwing his free arm over his eyes. "Ungggh…"

"Good morning, Duo," Quatre said, annoyingly chipper in the morning. "Did you sleep well?" Duo rolled over, to find himself lying rather comfortably on top of Heero. He blinked as his brain told him what had happened yesterday. He hopped out of bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

Trowa and Quatre sat at the rickety patio table with a paper they'd bought earlier, just watching him expectantly. Duo frowned. "What?"

Quatre just smiled, shaking his head. "You sure looked comfy," he said, grabbing a creased page of the newspaper and perusing it coyly.

Duo sighed. "That's the best sleep I've had since…" he stopped and yawned. "Since I solved that stupid equation. If I have to cuddle up with someone to get a decent night's sleep, I'm gonna." Duo plopped down on the loveseat, stretching out only to end up nearly curled into a ball.

Trowa held out the paper Quatre had been looking at. "Looks like your bed friend is dead." A devilish twinkle lit up his green eyes as Duo, confused, grabbed the paper and began to read.

_The body of acclaimed scientist and prodigy Dr. Heero Yuy, 17, was found in the remains of Saparta University Laboratories. Identifiable solely by dental records, the explosion and fire originated in his Destruction Experimentation Lab, the investigation team said. _

_Dr. Yuy will be best remembered for his amazing contributions to the field of Science, especially at such a young age, along with his provocative, moving artwork, which may be found in many of the most illustrious libraries and museums. Also well known for his philanthropic work with mentally disabled teenagers, Yuy leaves behind a legacy that will not be soon forgotten, even for one so young._

Duo stopped reading, staring at the words. Astonished purple eyes rose up to meet those of Trowa and Quatre. "There was an identical set of teeth in a body in his lab?" Trowa nodded, looking a bit uneasy.

"Apparently he'd gone through the trouble of finding an exact double…or, making one at least," he said, and unbidden every open pair of eyes drifted to the peaceful-looking grave robber sleeping in Duo's bed.

"I knew he was paranoid, but this…this is a little creepy," Duo grumbled, shuffling back over to the bed. He still looked like Heero…and he was breathing, so Heero was alive. He shrugged.

"Duo! What are you doing," Quatre snapped, shocked at Duo climbing back into bed with another yawn. "We have school!"

He glared at the couple at his rickety table. "My apartment, my bed, my decision," he said, and yawned again, curling back up to the warmth that was Creepy Comatose Heero. His head fell back down onto his pillow. "Take notes for me?"

Quatre sighed. "You could sleep through the apocalypse," he muttered, making Trowa chuckle, and finally nodded. "I'll take notes for you, but you'd better actually use them this time!"

"Then don't take notes," Duo's muffled voice came out. Laughing, Quatre just walked out the door.

"I gave Wufei a sedative. It'll probably last until about…" Trowa checked his watch. "Two PM. The pills are next to the refrigerator, and the injection's next to the kitchen sink."

"Thanks, Tro," Duo sighed, close to dead yet again, and Trowa left the three sleeping figures alone in the tiny apartment.

x-x

The nightmares faded as his eyelids crawled open, revealing what could only be a dream.

He looked almost soft like this, lips slightly parted and breathing deeply. His chest rose and fell like the ocean rolling in and out, the same peaceful rhythm, the same soothing tone. That lovely braid was coming apart at the black band, barely restraining all that gorgeous russet hair.

He allowed himself a content smile as Duo sighed and snuggled closer. He was so peaceful looking it hurt. Heero hadn't been this comfortable since…ever, he realized with a bit of a shock. Even though the bed was a bit lumpy from where Duo usually slept and the sheets were a bit rough than he liked and the pillow was beyond pathetic, he was comfortable.

And it was all from the boy he should hate, curling around him.

Heero couldn't stop his hand. It glided across the sheets to Duo's bare neck, right where his skin looked most like a fine piece of beige silk. His thumb ran along the soft, perfect skin.

Duo's head shot up from the pillow, giggling madly and rubbing where Heero had touched him. Heero jerked back in shock, and the giggling turned to chuckles. The chuckles slowly faded into quiet shivers of laughter, and finally Duo's eyes opened to see a startled Heero-an AWAKE Heero.

He grinned. "Heero! You're alive!" Duo was leaning over him, checking his eyes for any hint of brain trauma.

Heero smirked. "You're ticklish," he stated. Duo frowned.

"There's nothing wrong with being ticklish," he said, mock offended, and his smile slid back on. "You feeling okay?"

Heero nodded curtly. "I'm fine. Duo, I need to talk to-"

"Are you sure," Duo asked, and frowned again. "I better go get the-" He tried to roll out of the bed, but Heero's hand snapped out and grabbed his wrist. With a quick yank, Duo was back in the bed.

"I'm FINE, Duo," he said, getting more annoyed by the moment. Duo rolled his eyes.

"You were in a two-day coma, Heero," he snapped. "I think that constitutes a bit of worrying." Heero glared- a bad habit.

"I'm. Fine."

"Oh, yeah, and the fact you inhaled more crap than a chain-smoker on meth doesn't give us any reason to worry," Duo snorted, untangling himself from the now-rumpled sheets. "You may not give a shit about what happens to you, but I'm not letting you die by some crappy assassination attempt." Before he could even try to get out of the bed, though, Heero had him pinned to the mattress, glaring.

"My health is satisfactory. I don't need medical attention. I. Am. Fine." Duo rolled his eyes again melodramatically.

"And they call you a doctor."

Heero smirked. "They also call me paranoid."

Duo grinned. "That's cuz you are, you crazy bastard."

"Hn." Heero rolled back to his side of the bed. "With reason."

A hard silence fell between them, the two not even recognizing the fact their hands linked together, fingers curled around the other's.

"You saved me," Heero finally said, almost as silent as the small apartment. There was another rustle of the sheets, and Duo smiled down at him again, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"You followed me."

And the silence came back, staring into each other's eyes. He'd never seen how profound and lost those violet eyes looked when the lights were out. Surprised, Heero realized he'd be more than happy to find out what made those amethyst eyes so old.

Duo shifted, breaking the spell, and tried to scoot off the bed. But Heero pulled him back, this time with a hard jerk on his braid. Duo flung back onto the bed…and more specifically, onto Heero, who still had a firm grip on the braid. "OWWW! FUCK, Heero, what do you have against me getting out of the damn b-"

His brain melted as the scientist kissed him almost agonizingly slowly. At the first touch of their lips, Duo's eyes slammed shut, his dissolved mind just picking up on the little, excruciatingly perfect movements of their lips, how Heero took his sweet, luscious time, dragging his head further down with him into the pillow.

Duo's leg swung over to let him straddle the blue-eyed boy mindlessly, whimpering when Heero's spare hand ran along his chest. By now, he was so lost in just the nibbling, pressing, intimate, heavenly occupation of his lips that he didn't even notice.

But someone else sure as hell did.

"**YUY!**" Wufei's startled bark had Duo leaping out of the bed and locking himself in the bathroom. "What the FUCK is going on!"

Heero's smoldering glare made Wufei physically flinch. "Chang, shut up or die." His mouth slammed shut, and Heero did his best to stand up when out of the bed. After three trials and falling back onto the bed, he admitted to himself that Duo had probably been right.

But, being the obstinate idiot he was, Heero let himself fall onto the floor, and managed to crawl-creep over to the bathroom door. "Duo?"

There was no response. Heero glared at the door. "Duo." Still, there was an uneasy silence on the other side of the door. "You're going to have to come out of there eventually." All he got back was more quiet, so he sat himself down in the doorframe, ready to wait out quite possibly the longest siege of his life- that of Duo Maxwell.

x-x

A/N: As afore mentioned, I'm looking for info on places to put up NC-17 versions of future Prodigy chapters, so if you wanna help out…that'd be greeaatt. (Just watched Office Space.)

Oh, and WAAY in advance, I'll be gone from March 25 to April 4…SPRING BREAK, BABY! I'm going to Disney World! Wheeeee! I'm gonna get sick on the teacups with all my friends and just sit around and ride rides and do NOTHING! YAAAY!

(Looks like the special's gonna be after Ch. 10, BTW.)

**READER RESPONSES: **

KawaiiTenshi27: Mmmm…ice cream. I love labs. My neighbor used to breed champion black labs, even though I didn't see what was so "champion" about them. They seemed more stupid than normal dogs, to be honest. (Probably the inbreeding.)

ZmajGoddess: Well, I hope you thought this chapter was funny too. (And if you like the idea of Heero blowing himself up, just wait.)

BrokenChains: Thank you! Yeah, they are OOC, but I figure it fits with their AU characters. Thanks for reviewing!

ZaKai: Awwww! I got a compliment on characterization! (beams) THANKS!

"Moonshine And Mustard Seed" (aka Chocopenguin…): (hugs) You're just too nice to me. I don't deserve you! Now get to writing, darn it! I'm dying for the phone booth scene! DYING!

DuosGemini: Well, it's not a lot of 1x2 action, but hey. Still good, ne? Thanks for reviewing!

ms trick: Thanks for thinking my 3x4 was cute! AND reviewing. As always, a pleasure to hear from you!

Kaaera: Poor things! Midterms…eek. I hate tests. They kill me. And, as always, thank you so much for reviewing! Hope you get a day off o' school for no real reason.

Shakes twin Twitch: I'm actually an avid Wufei fan, so believe me when I say that the 'Fei abuse has a very good reason, and won't be lasting for very long. Thanks for sticking with me through it, though!

Memme: Hmmm…Fruits Basket sounds promising! I might have to check that out…And thanks for reviewing, as always! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last!

gods sent angel: THANK YOU! I'm so glad me rewriting the last chapter about three times paid off! I just couldn't get down all I wanted…Thank you very much for reviewing!

Sultrie: Oooo…cookie…(gobbles up). And I have to say, Relena/Animal DEFINITELY wins for freakiest pairing. Eeew. And I am DEFINITELY bribable with cookies. And I DEFINITELY like you reviewing (and your HP stories, even though I have a bad habit of never reviewing anything…I love Mirror, Mirror. So good…)

Daemonshalo: (blush) Awww…you sure know how to flatter me into writing faster! Thank you! We can set the wedding for Friday, if you want! (grin)

THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW!

(holds up "WILL DANCE FOR REVIEWS" sign.)


	9. Facing

A/N: Why hello again! Chapter 9. Out so late because TS Eliot's been busy sucking my will to live.

When we get to the NC-17 goodness, I'm going to be putting it up on my livejournal, just because I'm a lazy little thing. Thank you to all for the suggestions! When we get there, I'll be sure to write up the link for you all. And I might put it on mediaminer, but then I'd end up having to put ALL of Prodigy up, and…ugh. Yet again: Me lazy.

Stole the song from Tara, and her price was getting to be the one singing it, so that's why she's in it. And me? …Well, I just didn't want to feel left out.

Warnings: Wufei's Well-Known Potty Mouth, Self-and-friend-insertion, Return of the Biker Beatniks, and Scary Duo Poetry.

Prodigy

Chapter 9

Facing

xx

Even his still-blurry eyes couldn't hide the hilarity of what was going on.

"Come out," Yuy said calmly and quietly to the locked wooden door, as if trying to coax a cat out from under a bed. The door- more like a slab of wood with a handle jabbed onto it- didn't respond. "Duo."

Yuy himself was close to dead, lying on the floor with his head against the door and breathing like he'd just come up for air. Wufei snickered. Well, he actually had. The two had been practically suffocating each other with their mouths.

Heero's eyes snapped to him at the snicker. It was a warning shot, but all Wufei could think was how stupid the scientist looked right now. He was only half-dressed, with just his pants on (Wufei didn't want to think about when he'd lost his shirt) and he still had a bit of ash in his hair. Well, everyone but the braided idiot did, at least.

Wufei twitched a taunting eyebrow up at his rival. Heero glared.

"You going to attack me," he goaded, his lips twisting into a smirk.

Heero's head twisted back to the door, a scathing dismissal while he took care of the mess Wufei had landed him in. Not that Wufei was even close to remorseful anyway.

"Duo?"

There was a crash in the tiny bathroom.

"Duo."

Another crash.

"I'm not leaving until you come out."

"Shittyfuckingconcretegonna-" Something groaned, and a small crash ensued. "-SHIT!" Something large and ominous slammed in the tiny bathroom.

The two stared at the door. "…Duo?"

Wufei frowned. There wasn't any further noise from the tiny room. And as much as he loathed admitting it, the idiot _had_ saved his life, and should be treated accordingly…no matter how roundabout the saving really was. "Untie me."

Heero's glare could have turned the refrigerator to a puddle of bubbling goo. "No."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "As incomprehensible as it is to you, Yuy, this isn't a ploy to escape. You're obviously not well enough to break down the door and save your idiot from killing himself, so the task falls to me. And I can't do that duct taped to a fucking refrigerator, can I?"

Gritting his teeth and facing the truth, Heero (after listening for a bit more noise, which was fruitless) managed to stumble over to the bed, and without thinking about it reached under and grabbed one of his knives from the mattress. After stumbling over to Wufei, he cut most of the duct tape off…intentionally leaving bits for the spy to rip off himself. Painfully, if he dared hope.

Wufei, however, wasn't about to complain. He didn't even bother to get those parts off, instead opting for getting past all this life debt shit as quickly as possible and shoving the door open with his duct taped shoulder.

The wooden square opened easily, and Wufei ended up landing sprawled painfully on the floor, staring at a trick door to the outside of the apartment. The tile siding of the shower had been the crashing sound; the tiles were all attached to some piece of siding (it would require further analysis later), which slung down into the tub…if you weren't in a hell of a hurry to get out. The trap door had swung out to the world.

A car- a very FAMILIAR car- came to life and slunk into the street, where it ran off, barely visible from the bathroom's tiny window.

Wufei could HEAR the scientist's glare from the main room. "Chang." He strode back into the other room, eyes locked with the dead man's. His dignity refused to acknowledge the duct tape adorning his dirty white clothing.

"Yuy."

Heero managed to stand firmly on his own feet, using his one-inch advantage to all he could. "We're going after him."

Wufei snorted and sat himself down on the loveseat. "Debt and servitude are very different things, Yuy, not to mention I don't have to give a shit what _you_ want. I'm not about to take care of your petty romance-"

With his brain sighing in agitation, Wufei was knocked out again.

xx

"_-know that you've saved me._"

The door swung shut behind him, blowing the sunset air around him as he walked over to Lisa, whose smile faltered at the sight of him. "You okay, Duo?"

"_Shake me, shake me, Please let me wake.  
__But I'm tired and scared, So I hungrily sleep._"

He shrugged, eyes taking in the familiar café. The regulars were all here, listening to the girl and her guitar. "Open mic night, Lisa?"

She frowned at him. "Every night's open, and you know it." She grabbed a menu and led him over to the familiar two-person booth he usually kept. "You got something to share with us?"

"_In search of a moment, When I can forget,  
In search of a moment Of Heart-settled peace."_

He nodded over to the singer. "She's new, isn't she?"

Lisa frowned. "Don't change the subject, Duo." She shoved the familiar menu onto his burgundy paper placemat and plopped down in the opposite seat. "What's wrong?"

"But the wondrous thing That you try to escape While seeking refuge In your dreams 

_Will haunt you there, Without tire, nor rest,  
__Till you return to her In reality."_

Duo shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it, alright? Just…just get me the regular."

"You in trouble again?" The stern look sent him shaking his head.

"No- well, not like you're thinking." He sighed, stretching himself out as Lisa stood back up, straightening her apron. Her frown was still in place.

"You're getting up there next, mister."

"But-"

"_Your love keeps me floating,  
__Know that you have me."_

"NO buts! It's either that or I actually call in your tab!"

Duo pouted and slouched down further. "Bossy little hostess…"

Lisa shook her head. "It's for your own good, you idiot."

_"Your love keeps me floating,_  
_Know that you have me."_

He stuck his tongue out at her back…after making sure she wouldn't see, of course. If there was one thing scarier than a Lisa determined to make you sing, it was a Lisa determined to kill you.

Which, of course, he just happened to know from experience.

_"Good morning Love," She says with a smile  
And she sings out, overjoyed, by the warmth that she feels  
Of the sun on her face, and her feet on the world,  
Yet she dances as if she's got wings at her heels."_

Apparently word had gotten around quickly. Every single waitress was eying him for well-being.

"Oh the joys of regularity," he grumbled, and took a swig of the complimentary glass of water. The water ring on the placemat quickly had a friend. "And people wonder why I'm not friendly."

"_And you're all but entranced by the rhythm you feel,  
Of the flow of your blood to your finger tips."_

He stared at the singing girl, who just seemed to go on, ignoring the sudden frantic look in his eyes.

His sudden hypnosis with the singer broke when Lisa plopped back down in front of him, the Soup Of the Day (French Onion, one of their best) sliding into place in front of him. Of course, it was served with a stern look from Erica, who was too busy to lecture him.

"_You want to reach out and touch her, make sure that she's real,  
And cradle her up in a soul you see fit.  
Your light keeps me floating,  
Know that I've made it.  
Your light keeps me floating,  
Know that I've made it…"_

The patrons all cheered as the young woman with short purple hair bowed with a smile and hopped off the stage, the redhead in back screaming out a "GO TARA!" enthusiastically.

Lisa quirked an eyebrow up. "Any more excuses?"

Duo frowned. "I could think of a few, yeah."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his shirt, yanking him up and over to the stage, where the bikers began to applaud again at the sight of a familiar and surprisingly well-respected artist approaching the stage…willingly or not. Lisa grabbed the microphone.

"I think we all know Duo, but here he is again! He's a little shy tonight-" she ignored his glare "-so he may need a little encouragement!" The mic landed in his crossed arms, and Lisa shouted out, "Everyone! Duo Maxwell!"

The applauding was politely encouraging.

After another threatening glare from Lisa- and the familiar knife-throat gesture, he began.

"…_I'm a decent guy, as most of you know.  
__I've got standards, you see, though my manners…so-so."_

The regulars laughed, and he smiled uneasily. They did more polite applause, and after another more threatening motion from Lisa he continued.

"_In dating there's only a few things I must see:  
__Intelligence, Kindness, some kind of degree.  
__Well, okay, I admit, the last is the first-  
__But then again no! Hence the rest of this verse!_

_I'm in the acquaintance of a doctor-PhD.  
__Intelligent, yes. But smart? Well, we'll see.  
__I admit he's some wit, but that's easy to find,  
__He's hot- oh my GOD do I love his…uh, mind._

_We constantly bicker, which I'll say is…well, dumb.  
__But the way my brain works, I just kind of go numb.  
__See, fighting with him is like…like…taking a hike.  
__You've been walking so long, you don't know what you like.  
__Okay, bad analogy. I'll try again.  
__Fighting with him is…  
__Aww, screw it. I'll just move along._

_The guy's a lunatic! He burns everything!  
He blew up his car! He blows up machines!  
He blew up his lab! Almost Trowa, too!  
If I hadn't saved him, Heero woulda burned too!_

_So why do I save him? Why the HELL do I care?  
There's no real motivation, except save his…hair._

_But then he does THIS! He just…just…KISSES ME!  
What the fuck's meant by that! What the hell does he see?  
Does he want me to kill him? Screw him, maybe?  
Hell, I don't know. I just want to left be!"_

He took a moment to sigh, and finally realized every face in the café was staring at him, mouth at full gape. Was it just him, or had a kid started wailing in the background?

_"Eheh…so, uh, that's my poem I guess, as bad as I was.  
__No, please, don't start yet…well, I just don't want applause.  
__See, the thing about this is it's scaring me too.  
__A year all alone leads to, well, things unused to.  
__So, I'll leave you to dinner, and go face my fate.  
__Please be nice to Lisa, and clear your own plate."_

As Duo stuck the near-strangled microphone back on the stand, applause broke out. Lisa ran up, grinning, and gave him a fierce hug.

"Everybody, the impassioned poetry of Duo Maxwell! Give him a hand!"

Near blushing, Duo bowed slightly and scampered over to his soup, salad and smoothie, trying to ignore all the surprisingly fond looks the regulars were giving him.

"So much for being left alone," he sighed, and tried to shut out the world.

xx

A/N: Okay, okay, so it's a bit shorter. But it was either that or another couple days waiting, and I figured you'd prefer the chapter now instead of later with 3x4 (which will be first thing in Ch. 10).

And I bet your favorite Duo Stanza's my favorite Duo Stanza. Ah, poor thing. (Laughs maniacally).

OFF TO FINALLY FINISH CHAPTER 3 OF CHEMICAL ROMANCE!

READER RESPONSES:

**TO ALL**: You know I love you, right? I mean, in that way where if you all died I'd probably do that "NOOOOOO!" thing and gouge my eyes out with my mother's brooch?(1) See, even though I love you that inconsolably, I just don't have the time right now to respond to every one of you. So, please. Believe me when I say that I adore each and every review, read said review at least three times (seriously), and am absurdly apologetic about not having the time to do them all right now. Next time, I swear, I WILL do just that, but right now I have many, many obligations. I apologize again. See? "Sorry."

**To those who gave me my much-needed NC-17 info: **Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! Although I'm being an insanely rude little thing by not using the information you were so kind to give me, I truly appreciate it. You guys are so great. Thank you VERY very much. I will not forget your kindness.

**Tara:** I was gonna run this by you for your approval, but every time I was online you weren't! Sorry. Thank you again for the use of your song, and I really hope you don't object to Duo coming in mid-song. (Screams "GO TARA!")

I deeply thank you for reading Prodigy, and humbly request you review!

(1) Get the reference, and I'll give you a cookie. A yummy one.


	10. Apprehensive Ignition

A/N: PLOT! We're getting into the ACTUAL DEEP PLOT! And I'm very sorry, but the 3x4 migrated to becoming the entirety of next chapter, since this part's SOOOO much longer than I thought it'd be…

And yummy, yummy cookies go to KawaiiTenshi27 & Catoblepas for getting my nerdy Oedipus reference! Huzzah! (:) (:)

I don't pretend to speak Latin, either. I'll just direct you to the all-powerful online translator I used and apologize for any mistakes you may find.

Warnings: (…Do I have to do these anymore? Well, just in case…) Latin (translated, as always, at the bottom.), and Further Plotness! Oh rah! Cliffhanger, too.

x---x

Prodigy

Chapter 10

Apprehensive Ignition

x---x

**prplSldr**: sir? he's alive

**K**:You have proof?

**prplSldr**: sending it now

**prplSldr **wants to send file C/My Files/poem.mp3

**K **received C/My Files/poem.mp3

**K**: Well.

**K**: Isn't this interesting.

**prplSldr**: orders?

**prplSldr: **…sir?

**K: **Bring him in.

**K **signed off at 7:34:47 PM.

**prplSldr **signed off at 7:36:42 PM.

x---x

_-…Filius._

He stood in the carpeted church aisle, head down, as the blood tinkled down from the dark wooden rafters. It caught the colorful light winking from the windows.

_Meus filius._

Like a gentle winter rain the red flowed down, cleansing and condemning him at the same time. Her willowy voice bent through the air, swirling about with her ghostly soul.

_Meus filius, quare vos vox?_

Confused blue eyes stared up at him, bathed in blood and yellow glass on the frayed blue carpet of the chapel. She choked out a sound. It could have been his name. It could have been a curse. He didn't know.

Her eyes dimmed painfully, and he turned away, spattered boots hollow on the floor.

_Ego sum defluo. _

Sirens wailed and moaned in the distance. Damp cheeks hardened, the gun springing back into his hand.

He stepped over the father.

_Ego sum unus._

The bullet shot out as the hammer crashed down, twirling along its dangerous arc.

The resounding slam of the pistol.

His black descended, the finality crashing with the breaking angel's face.

_Ego sum mortis…-_

"That Latin?"

His head jerked up, shaken violet eyes meeting dark purple in an intrigued face. The woman smiled as he ground out a "What?", shifting in the two-person booth.

Her one-and-a-half visible eyes grinned just as pleasantly as her lips. "You said… 'I'm dead'? I think that's the translation." She laughed softly.

"Close enough," he grumbled, bleak eyes blinking sleepily. "Whadaya need?" Duo stretched out, cracking his back in the process as he stretched out in the squishy booth. As he looked around, he noted the rest of the restaurant was empty, surprisingly enough, lights dimmed for the night. The café closed whenever Lisa (who also happened to be the owner) left, so she must have had an early appointment or something.

Again, the overly friendly woman was smiling at him. "I heard your poem. I'd like you to get in touch with my employer," she said, and pulled out a simple white card, the single "OZ inc." emblazoned on the front shining in the dim green lights. "He's interested in talking with you, and that's a rare honor."

Duo's face twisted in confusion as he blinked up at her. "Huh?"

The woman laughed. "Let me start over," she said, and held out a hand. Duo shook it. Her grip was firm, an entirely business handshake. For some reason the thought was reassuring. "My name's Lucrezia Noin, and I work for OZ incorporated. Your poetry caught our interest, and I'd like to take you to our main office to speak with my supervisor."

He scratched his head, yawning. "Uh, no thanks. I've already got a job." He snorted. "Two, actually."

The woman cleared her throat. "I don't think you're entirely understanding. There may be a chance you wouldn't have to do an ounce of work ever again. This is an incredible opportunity, Mr. Maxwell."

Duo chuckled. "And I don't think you heard my poem, then. It sucked. But," he continued, "I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying either. I don't want to meet your boss. Or do anything other than sit and mope right now."

Noin sighed. "Listen. I was told to bring you back with me, and I'm going to. You can either come willingly, or hostilely. If it makes you feel better, I could make it worth your while." She reached into her purse, and Duo frowned again.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

She laughed. "It means, Mr. Maxwell, that you have two choices if coming hostilely," she said, and pulled out her checkbook. "The first is, as you can see, I bribe you." Again her hand went into the purse. "Everyone has a price."

When she looked up, ballpoint pen in hand, Duo was wide-awake, glaring apprehensively. "And those that don't?" Anyone could have noticed his hand innocently cradling the steak knife from the side of his plate.

Noin sighed. "Which, of course, leads us to option two." Her hand was back in the purse, and flicked back out with a pistol. The gun's barrel pointing at his temple answered any question about option two.

Duo grinned darkly at her. "Well. That's not very smart, since you obviously need me alive."

Her smile was still kind, surprisingly, and her level voice was pure business. "Alive, yes, but not uninjured. I'm sure he wouldn't be too displeased if you were missing a functioning hand or ears."

He nodded slowly. "I see." A slow smile slid back out. "What did you say your name was?"

"Lucrezia Noin."

Duo blinked. The woman's mouth hadn't moved, and that sure as hell hadn't been her voice. It almost sounded like-

A gun's safety was flicked off. "Put the gun down."

Duo's head banged onto the table as Noin complied. Juuusst great. Of all the people to come and save the day, it just _had_ to be Heero.

WHAM. WHAM. WHAM.

Before his head became intimate with the table a fourth time, a firm hand snatched his braid. "Idiot."

His head rose back up, glaring straight into the bruised face of Chang Wufei. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

The ex-captive drew him out of the booth using the braid like a leash. "Saving your ass with Yuy, apparently." As the white-clad spy pried him further away, Heero took the occupied seat, staring down the unfazed woman.

"Why the frrrmmph-"

Duo's words were cut off by a convenient wad of napkins and a far too pleased smirk. "Ever heard the phrase 'silence is golden'?"

Duo's rather prominent middle finger responded with what his mouth couldn't. Wufei's smirk widened triumphantly as he led the other teenager to the rather suspiciously scuffed back door.

As soon as they heard the door slam shut, both of the booth's occupants had their pistols aimed at each other, fingers millimeters from pulling back the trigger. Heero glared.

"Leave him alone."

Noin stared straight at him. "It's not my place to decide."

"Leave him alone."

"Why do you care?"

"Noin." The hammer was pulled back. "Leave him alone."

She shook her head minutely. "If he wants to see Duo, I have to bring him in."

Heero's glare intensified. "I can guarantee Relena won't be very happy if you try to take him in." At Noin's blink, he smirked. "And an unhappy Relena means an unhappy Zechs."

Noin's startled expression morphed into a glare as her own gun's hammer was cocked back. "Did you hear his poem, Heero?"

It was his turn to blink in surprise, but he regained control fast enough. "That's beside the point."

She smiled. "I disagree. It's the entire point." A hand crept down to her purse, and against his better judgment Heero didn't shoot her. Instead, she pulled out a tape recorder, eyes never leaving his as it thunked down onto the table. "Listen to it when you get the chance."

His face remained still. "I will."

Her smile grew, and in a movement her pistol was lying on the table in front of him. "I could never outshoot you anyway."

Putting his own down, he quickly dismantled her pistol and grabbed the tape recorder. "Do I have your word you won't go after him?"

She shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Heero. But we were mostly after him to find you- who, may I add, seem in excellent health for someone legally dead."

He snorted. "Tell your arsonist he needs some work." A pause. "Mostly?"

Noin's grin was sheepish. "What better blackmail than your boyfriend?"

"Hn." The pistol waved her to the front door. "Out, Noin."

With an acquiescent shrug, she scooted out of the booth. "Oh, and it's she."

Heero frowned. "What?"

"The arsonist. It's a she." Noin turned back towards him, face serious. "Not many of us approved, Heero. I hope you know that."

He glared at the wall. "Tell her I'll see her soon then." He slid her dismantled gun across the linoleum and she grabbed it without thinking, putting the pieces into her purse again.

Noin looked up and nodded, smiling. "Goodbye, Heero."

He nodded in return, and with a final wary look the two turned to their respective exits and re-locked the café behind them.

Outside Wufei and Duo sat on the hood of the black sedan, Wufei conveniently sitting on top of a hefty chunk of braid as he watched Heero's approach. Duo was busy being all-around pissed and indignant about the situation, grumbling and shouting at seemingly random intervals.

"Yuy," Wufei nodded, utterly blocking out the rant.

Heero nodded in return, and Noin's white convertible quickly zipped out of the parking lot. His eyes flipped to the suddenly still Duo. "Keys?"

"What, no invasion of privacy to get them this time?" Duo growled.

"Duo."

"WHAT is it NOW?"

Heero glared. "Shut up." Heero's hand shot out, but this time palm up. "Keys."

Hissing out profanity, Duo handed the keys over. One of the parking lot's streetlamps flickered off. "Mr. Take-Without-Asking-I-Know-Better-Than-You-So-Shut-Up…"

Choosing to ignore the annoyance, Heero unlocked the car and started it up. Duo quickly jumped into the passenger seat (after Wufei had stood up), and with a roll of his eyes Wufei clambered into the back. As soon as everyone's seatbelts were on, Heero gunned the poor car onto the highway.

"What the hell are you doing to my car!" Duo was holding on for dear life as Heero seemed to glare the other cars out of his way.

"Nothing you haven't."

"Oh, that's SO reassuring," Duo snapped back.

"Why don't you both just SHUT UP for once and watch the fucking road!" Wufei's shout came just as they passed by the off ramp to Duo's small apartment.

"…Where are we going, anyway?"

"The hospital," Heero bit out, dodging a truck and holding the steering wheel like a racecar driver. "Trowa's been shot."

x---x

**prplSldr: **sir? more info

**K: **And it's good enough to interrupt my meeting?

**prplSldr: **definitely

**prplSldr: **visual confirmation yuy's alive

**prplSldr: **and chang

**K: **You're absolutely positive?

**prplSldr: **saw them with my own eyes

**K: **Their status?

**prplSldr: **both around the maxwell boy

**K: **Well this is interesting.

**K: **Your status?

**prplSldr: **perfectly fine back home

**K: **I want you to make sure our littlerogue doesn't try again. Understood?

**PrplSldr: **yessir

**K: **I'll see you tonight then.

**K: **And Noin?

**prplSldr: **yes

**K: **I know it may not be in person, but please use capitalization and punctuation when speaking with me.

**prplSldr: **Yes sir.

**K **signed off at 8:14:28 PM.

**prplSldr **signed off at 8:16:43 PM.

x---x

A/N: MUWAHAHAHAH! Ah. I just couldn't resist. And don't worry, next chapter will be out **MUCH** sooner. Sorry 'bout the wait for this one again. The entirety of next chapter is 3x4, explaining the Trowa-hospital thing, so no worries.

(Moronic A/N trait of the day:) **Don't** you just **hate** those **people** who **bold** **every** other **word**? **Me too!**

_Translations_

(Latin)

_Filius_: Son.

_Meus filius_: My son.

_Meus filius, quare vos vox?_: My son, why do you cry?

_Ego sum defluo_: I am lost.

_Ego sum unus_: I am alone.

_Ego sum mortis:_ I am death.

**READER RESPONSES** (I'm still madly in love with you all!):

_(Now with underlined names for easy findage!)_

SnakeMistress: Aww, thanks! You like my character poetry! I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

KawaiiTenshi27: YAY! Oedipus! (throws confetti and yummy cookies) Eh…sorry 'bout the wait, too. But hey! I updated eventually! (hugs!)

Gods sent angel: (blush) Awwww, you're so sweet! That's like how I get with reviews, too. I see a review, and I'm up there on Cloud 90 with you for the whole freakin' day. And I've always wanted an obsessive stalker bitch! YAAAYYY:)

Serena429: Thank you very much! I try!

Kaaera: o.O You're GOOD. Almost got the entire chapter down in a prediction! Well, aside from the bikers not being there in the story, but hey. Still pretty damn impressive! You get a Gold Trophy for Prophetic Reviewing.

Bunch-o-Nuts: Thanks for coming back to me! (welcome back hug!)

Catoblepas: (gives yet another yummy yummy cookie) Wow, that's impressive you can remember that. AND Jocasta's name. And the creepy thing is they had four kids. (shudder) That's just nasty. And thanks so much for liking my story!

Memeal: Thanks! Awww, you liked the poem! Thank you so much! You're so nice.

Windy River: As always, I try!

Evil Chibi Kitten: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

ravel queen: …And now I hang my head in shame at the mention of Chemical Romance. (does so) It'll be updated eventually, I swear. Oh yes, all my poetry's mostly-spontaneous. For some reason I just go stare into the bathroom mirror for a couple minutes, talk to myself, and then it's done in my head. Creeps my family out, too, 'cuz I'm there muttering and staring. Heh. Wow, this got long…Thanks for reviewing!

dk-joy: Awww, my fic's all gushy inside now. Thanks for reviewing!

Ezzy: Thanks so much! Now I'm gonna be really annoying and ask what the Maxwell's Coffee House is…(blush)

eBooeBoo: OOOO! I got favorited! Thanks so much!

Lachwen: Thank you! I wrote more! Yaay!

And, as always…_Thanks for Reading! Please Review!_


	11. Complications Part I

A/N: Well, sorry it's been so long. Hope it's worth the wait…regardless of how embarrassingly short it is (which is expanded upon later).

Oh, concerning the seemingly rampant confusion of a coupla parts in Ch. 10. It's SUPPOSED to be a mite confusing to you right now. Eventually everything'll make sense and you'll feel oh so clever if you ever choose to re-read Prodigy! Yay!

Quatre talks in run-ons because he's in shock and doesn't want to stop for fear of not being able to go on just like this sentence you're reading because I've been writing that three-sentence paragraph for two months now and it annoyed the hell out of me.

I really do like Hilde. That's why I abuse her so.

WARNING! Lack of (so much) humor this chapter! The missing comedy got switched into angst and unbearably dark plot twists. Sorry.

Prodigy

Chapter 11

Complications

(Part I)

Every hallway looked the same. The same warped, stained white tiles speckled with blue and gray, the same gray-beige walls in desperate need of repainting, the same decaying ceiling flaking powder on unsuspecting heads…all a feeble attempt at comforting visitors in a land of sickness and death. The rare window was dressed in sheer curtains that ghosted across the dirty glass like abandoned cobwebs in a subtle breeze.

As they stepped into Trowa's hospital room, the three could obviously tell there'd been some Winner influence. A single-patient room, fully equipped with a couch and two well-kempt windows held the tall boy's sleeping form, shirt off and a stark white bandage on his right shoulder. Quatre Winner sat next to the bed, one hand wrapped around Trowa's and the other cradling his sleeping head against the flimsy plastic back of his chair.

While Duo quickly moved towards his best friend, Heero moved to the other side of the bed, staring at his injured friend's startlingly peaceful face.

"Hey. Quatre," Duo said quietly, gently shaking the blonde awake as Wufei sat himself down on the couch, feeling utterly out of place. Aqua eyes snapped open, one hand clutching Trowa's in a death grip as the other jerked for his shoulder holster once again. "It's okay, Q. Relax. It's just us."

A sigh escaped his lips, and Quatre leaned further back in the chair, his grip on Trowa's hand loosening, but not letting go. "Thanks for coming, Duo." His free hand rubbed his tired eyes, and he looked around.

Heero had pulled up a chair on the other side of Trowa, facing the door in what was obviously a defensive impulse. Wufei sat pensively in the corner, eyes betraying an inner confusion. And Duo was by Quatre's side, his sweet and caring side coming out.

"Hey, how could I not? My best friend's boyfriend in the hospital, and you expect me to just sit around?" Duo frowned, glancing about the room. "Though I gotta say, I expected Hilde to come."__

"Move, and I'll shoot."

"No-!"

BANG!  
  
Quatre winced, hand tensing on Trowa's. "I didn't."

x---x

"Why am I not surprised."

The arsonist glared up at Noin. "Is it my fault they had a gun? I never knew Winner had a gun on him…"

Noin smiled softly, leaning over her disappointing protégé. "You don't know much, period." The slap on the younger woman's face seared across her cheek, the purple-haired woman not even bothering to guard her back as she returned to her laptop. "You've been researching them for how long now? And you didn't know the heir to the Winner fortune would have a form of protection?"

The arsonist glared at her so-called mentor. "He was rather distracted locking lips with his boyfriend at the time. I didn't know the tall kid would grab the gun!"

A hand slammed onto the desk. "Exactly. That's why you don't take risks. That's why you don't plant bombs in public, unreliable places on a whim. That's why you don't blow your cover to try and grab an armed heir with a loving bodyguard right there."

The younger girl's glare hardened. "I can't help but notice a drastic lack of Duo here."

Noin sighed. "That's because you made Heero protective of him."

Wide dark eyes blinked. "Protective?"

"And in love, if I'm not as completely stupid as you think I am," Noin muttered, getting to her feet again and strolling over to the darker window, head hanging low. "Everything's getting more complicated than expected."

The arsonist was still staring with wide eyes. "In love!" She shook her head violently. "No way. No way in hell is Duo in love with him…"

Noin leaned against the glass, purple hair pressed against the pane as she watched the cars drive around below the OZ building's 9th floor. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" She turned to see a vacant chair and a quickly closing door.

Sighing, Noin slumped back into her chair. "Hilde, you're going to get yourself killed one of these days…"

x---x

Duo stared at his blonde friend as he explained the events. Both hands now on Trowa's, Quatre was speaking rapidly, scared he wouldn't be able to finish if he stopped for a moment.

"It was after school and Trowa and I were walking back to your apartment and everything was great, but after a couple blocks we could tell we were being followed so Trowa started leading us down back alleys and stuff- he knows the inner city almost as well as you- but then I could see the person and it was Hilde so I turned around to talk to her, but she looked so cold Duo and she was holding a gun, and I had mine, but I didn't think anything of it- it was Hilde, after all- but then she aimed the gun at us and she just says "come with me" and Trowa just grabbed my gun before I could ask anything and says "move, and I'll shoot" and I could just shout for a moment, and I reached for the gun but Hilde shot and it went straight into the left side of his chest." He paused for a moment, still not looking up at the audience he'd gathered. "And I just screamed something at Hilde, I don't know what, and she just left and I grabbed my cell phone and called 911 and then I called your apartment but nobody was there so I tried every phone number I could think of except my house, and finally I ended up calling Trowa's house and a lady named Catherine answered and gave me Heero's cell phone number, so I called him, and…that's it."

The grave silence shattered with Duo's eerily cold voice.

"It was Hilde?"

Aqua eyes snapped wide. "Duo, no. I won't let you-"

"She SHOT TROWA, Quatre! She's been betraying us for YEARS! How can you tell me to not go after her!" His fist slammed against the cheap chair's armrest, the metal squeaking ominously. "You should be just as fucking angry as I am!"

"Duo."

It was Heero who spoke, his hand settling gently on Duo's shoulder and the usual harsh edge in his voice gone. Duo's face relaxed from fury to strong anger, and Quatre relaxed slightly.

"I do need you to do something for me, Duo," Quatre said quickly. "I need you to get the notes for me from school." Three pairs of incredulous eyes twitched towards the blonde, and Quatre's eyes narrowed at Duo. "How many times have I done it for YOU? Besides, you haven't been to school for what, three days now? You'll get expelled at this rate."

"And that's such a problem," Duo said blandly.

"DUO." Quatre's scarily serious face, commonly called his Business Face in his father's circles, was firmly in place. "You owe me, and I'm making you do this. You have practically the same classes as me anyway, so there's no excuse for not getting it done."

"Fine," Duo pouted, and quickly jumped out of his chair and curled onto the couch with a startled Wufei scrunched into the corner. Within a minute, he was asleep, snoring just loud enough to be annoying.

The silence wasn't very long this time, the admiration blatant in Wufei's voice. "That was quick thinking, Winner."

Quatre's smile was small. "Duo's…protective." He sighed, head slumping down onto Trowa's bed. "And prone to revenge. And emotional. And impatient. And too loyal for his own good." He laughed quietly. "But that's what makes him Duo."

x---x

A/N: See how it says "Part I"? Yeah, this is 'bout a half of the chapter. See, I'm feeling horribly neglectful, since practically NOTHING happened during this part, and it's been a really long time, and I'm all selfish needing incentive and to see people are still interested in Prodigy after all this time…(bows head in shame)

Plus, I need some love. I've had a very, very bad day, and you all treat me so well... (tries really hard to not look pathetic…and fails) I love you guys! Seriously! LOVE!

READER RESPONSES (It's about time!):

Serena429: I won't ever quit on this story! I promise! It's just…sometimes my muses are rather uncooperative. Sorry.

Bunch-o-Nuts: Yeah, Ch. 10 was confusing. It'll all make sense in a while though, I promise! And then you'll think it was great (hopefully)! Sorry it took so long this time. I'm a bad, uninspired fic-writer.

Ravel queen: Ahh, you're so nice to me! (glomps) I know the speed of my updates just keeps getting worse, but I really do appreciate you! Thank you very much!

Kaaera: Sheesh. You're eerily perceptive, asking all the right questions and whatnot. Prplsldr is indeed Noin, but you got K wrong. And I should be sleeping right now, but hey! Who needs sleep when you've got actual INSPIRATION again!

Death's Angel: I'm glad you like it! Prplsldr and K will be revealed pretty soon, so don't worry about that. Thanks for reviewing!

Lost-Remembrance: (happydance) Ohhh, yay! You enjoyed Ch. 10! And my poetry, too! That always makes me giddy. Sorry it took so long to write more.

Son of twilight: (hugs back) Thank you so much! You know, I don't speak Latin either, but it sure is elegant. Just plain pretty to say, not to mention write. And look! I continued! FINALLY!

BrokenChains: (shame face) And you thought _last_ chapter was short…But here! (gives cookie, and a shiny…thing.) Look! Presents! And it's SHINY!

Dk-joy: I just love Noin. She's beautifully predictable, and so dutiful too. (Not to mention an excellent plot device…)

Windy River: I'm working on it! I promise!

Gods sent angel: What a review! Nice and long! Yay! First off, I could answer all your questions with a good "you'll see later", but I'm feeling the love, so here we go…although broad, limited answers, they're answers nonetheless. There will ALWAYS be more poetry. I intend to end Prodigy with a poem. Possibly a sonnet, maybe an entire epic…anyway. Although many, many women would kill to get in Trowa's pants (like me), a very limited number would want to shoot him. Luckily, that wasn't him in the Creepy Bit o' Ch. 10. It was Duo (And yes, that's a spoiler). So there you go. And on the Heero thing…you'll see later. (grin) Thanks for being spectacularly patient.

Ms trick: Cookies? Hmm…I'M tempted, but my muse has a weird affinity for silk and a food intolerance problem. (I call it 'bulimia', but he insists muses can't have an eating disorder). But thanks for reviewing, and waiting!

Ezzy: Ah, yes. The profanity. I just can't write this AU Duo without it, and Wufei's just all-around foul-mouthed. Ah, your reviews make me soooo happy…Thank you very much! I'm so glad you're enjoying Prodigy!

Chibi Lurrel: I'm glad you like it! Amusing AND intriguing! I feel like I just got a two-for-one coupon! Thank you!

Ink2: Oh, yes, Ch. 10 was rather confusing. It'll all make sense eventually though, don't worry! I just got all artistic and flashback-y…That was bad of me. But thanks for reviewing! Now I know to go back and fix it eventually.

KawaiiTenshi27: OH! YOU SPEAK LATIN! (jumps upon the opportunity) I really, really, really could use your help. My Latin/English dictionary usage just isn't up to par for my dear baby Prodigy. I'll bribe you for help, if you'll let me! Pleeaaassseeee? And yes, I am definitely into classical stuff. Mostly because it's all my assigned reading seems to be…but I'm not complaining. It's fun. :)

Noroi-Inu: (bows head in shame) Lo, even your fierce pokage and the amusing word 'swanky' can't beat me into submission. My humblest apologies, dear. I shall attempt to improve!

Kara-Scura-Coryza: …I'm sorry, but I just HAVE to ask about your screen name. It's too intriguing for me. Heh…I'm betting there's no more problem with that 'not up to date on Prodigy', right?

TARA/Moonshine-and-mustardseed/ choco-penguin: Oh man am I sorry. I'm so sorry I wince while writing this. I haven't been avoiding you, or anyone else. My sister just finished recovering from surgery, and I've been her private nurse for a few months. Sorry sorry sorry! Lovely Tara, I swear I won't go away for however many months again, okay? See? Sorry again! But…phone booth. Oh yes. Phone booth is good.

Chara13: mrow?

Isabel Evelyn: I'll take this moment to admit I've been stalking your Harry Potter fics for a while. And, uh, your livejournal. But not in a creepy kind of way or anything…(shifty look). So, thank you very much! The love's mutual.

WOW was that a lot of people! Thank you!

Oh, and since I got to an ASTOUNDING 200 reviews, please suggest a special! You can get:

1. More Crazy!Relena, including deep-ish plot!

2. Trowa and Heero's first meeting- in full fic form!

3. A look at Hilde's perspective.


	12. SPECIAL! 1, 2

_**Aug. 31, 2005- BIRTHDAY UPDATE! **_

As I've been on the site for over a year now, I figure I can shed the cloak of anonymity and say a bit 'bout myself. My real name's Shannon, I'm an English major at Colorado State University, and I love you guys so much it hurts (due to excessive grinning and sleep depravation trying to WRITE, dammit!). Therefore, you get _two _specials in honor of the date- one for each birthday I've had while writing GW ficcage! Enjoy! (hugs everybody) They're short little things, but entertaining, so…yeah.

…And yes, 11.2 IS on its way. Patience, please. I'm a busy, busy little girl…

Oh, and since I don't think I've ever done one of these on dear Prodigy…

**Disclaimer**: I DON'T OWN GUNDAM WING. I neither own it, nor claim to own it. My logic follows: People who own Gundam Wing are rich. I am _not_ rich. Therefore, I do _not_ own Gundam Wing. Huzzah for deductive logic!

x---x

Prodigy

Special #1: Concerning Trowa and Heero's First Meeting

x---x

"_First time I met him was on a tour of the labs last year. I took a wrong turn and stumbled into his lab. Before I knew it I was running for my life. I ended up locked in his vacuum chamber for three hours while he interrogated me." He chuckled. "Ever since he let me out, he's been my best friend."_

x---x

About a year and a half ago in our Prodigy timeline…

Night.

It was one of those moments, he couldn't help but think, where you expect to hear wolves howling in the distance, or maybe see a shady figure standing under a streetlamp in a hat and trench coat. One of those nights where you almost feel like you're in a detective story, just waiting to see the resident gumshoe trailing your every move.

Trowa Barton frowned as he walked into the Saparta Laboratory Complex's near-unlit west entrance, the other graduate students and TAs shuffling about uncomfortably. The tour guide- a balding, bland man with raccoon eyes- obviously couldn't care less, flirting with the young student at the front desk. After a couple minutes more, a brave soul in the front of the group cleared his throat, and the tour guide whirled around, a surprised frown on his face.

"Ahem. Well then. Get on with it," he muttered, waving an uncaring hand towards the hall in front of them. All forty pairs of eyes blinked at him as he passed out photocopied white papers, the faded black map almost indecipherable. "I'll be in 432D if you need anything." The man speed walked past the confused students, and Trowa blinked again.

Hesitating for a moment, he looked at the map, finally pulling a pen out of his backpack and attempting to trace the dull markings representing walls while the other students began mulling about, each going in a random direction. The woman at the front desk was busy popping her gum and looking about as happy about the situation as Trowa.

"Excuse me, but-"

"It's a self-guided tour, hon," the receptionist churned out around the glob of gum. "You're a grad student, figure it out for yourself."

So, Trowa found himself wandering the halls of the Saparta Laboratory Complex. It was literally built like a maze, being added on to at random, constantly under construction depending on the newest pet researchers and how much room they needed. Figuring he should treat the maze like a maze, he followed the left wall of the hallway.

He passed Archaeology, Astronomy, Botany, Biology, Chemistry, and then…then, he found himself staring down a small hallway, an intriguing red sign reading "DESTRUCTION EXPERIMENTATION" hanging next to a slightly charred metal door.

Trowa glanced back down at his map. This hallway, not to mention the section, wasn't even on his map…unless it was that gray blob in the corner near where the elevators were…He sighed. He needed directions, and the tiny window on the door showed a blonde girl asleep in a chair…maybe she could help?

Cautiously, he opened the door, the mechanism letting out a gentle hiss. Of course, he couldn't notice it, since as soon as the door was opened he could hear the girl's gentle sobbing. Green eyes wide, he inched forward. "Miss? Are you-"

A gun was pointed at his head. Blazing blue eyes swarmed him. "Who are you?"

"Heero, no!" the girl sobbed, but the boy before him ignored her plea, glaring at Trowa. He could feel something slam into him, and suddenly Trowa was sitting in a chair, the gun at his temple and the boy- Heero? - behind him.

"Who are you? Who do you work for?"

"HEERO! STOP!"

"Stay out of this, or leave," the boy called Heero said coolly, and more tears welled up in the blonde's eyes.

"Where would I go?" she whispered.

Trowa was no idiot. He knew his attacker was probably more distracted right now than he'd be in the near future, so he did what any intelligent man of his background would- shoved the gun upwards, yanked it out of the other boy's hands, and ran as fast and as hard as his long legs would let him.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god…_He could hear Heero's feet behind him. What had he found? WHO had he found? What was going on? _Oh god…_

He didn't know how long he'd been running around, turning at random and praying to avoid a dead end. _Oh god, oh god! _He turned left, the soles of his shoes leaving skid marks. And just like the past however-many-times, the other boy was heard following him relentlessly.

Time wore on, and he turned quickly again…only to find himself in a giant room filled with glass-guarded presentations of inventions and ideas. But, more importantly, a dead end. _Oh god…what would Catherine do?_ Following his train of thought, he did exactly what his sister would do- jumped straight onto the top of a nearby display case, and crouched down alo- OH CRAP! The crazy lab boy's gun landed on top of the scale proudly displayed in the glass box, clunking down on one side as the measurements whirred, happily dinging to 2.49 pounds.

"THIS ITEM WEIGHS…TWO, POINT, FOUR, NINE…POUNDS!" A cheerful woman's voice blared out of the nearby speakers as Trowa slammed his head against the display case's woven top. "THAT'S…ONE, POINT, ONE, THREE…KILOGRAMS!" He could just _hear _the smirk in his pursuer's casual steps towards him. "HAVE A NICE DAY!" The Scale for the Hard Of Hearing clicked off cheerily, leaving only the sound of a gun's safety being clicked off in the empty hall.

"Get down." His voice was crisp and firm, but undeniably amused. Trowa could tell. He was being laughed at by a quiet, undeniably crazy boy holding him at gunpoint. Oh, fun.

Trowa complied, jumping down as harmlessly as he could manage. As soon as his feet touched the floor, something slammed against his head. His vision quickly swirled to black as he fell to glossy tile floor.

---

The door to the vacuum chamber opened hesitantly. Trowa stepped out, barely containing a sigh for the lost-looking boy in front of him.

"I…" Heero began, trailing off as that vacant expression took hold again, his eyes shifting to the girl curled up on the table, the only blanket in the room draped over her as she lay with her head resting on her ams. "I have to be careful." He shook his head. "She…she's innocent. Too innocent."

"It's okay," Trowa said calmly, as if he was coaxing the lions into the cage.

"No, it's not," Heero snapped, his vacant expression evaporating into the usual fierce frown. "It won't ever be okay. Ever." He dropped down into the nearest lab chair, his disheveled brown hair hiding his eyes. "Get out."

Trowa smiled softly. "No."

"Go. Away."

"No." Before Heero could lock him in the vacuum chamber or shoot him again, he spoke again. "You need to eat something, both of you." Trowa shrugged. "And my sister's an excellent cook."

Confused blue eyes met his, slowly clearing in understanding. For a moment, they simply understood each other, the knowledge they'd come to an unbreakable, unspoken agreement surprisingly comforting.

"Thank you," Heero finally said quietly.

And Trowa smiled.

x---x

Prodigy

Special #2: Concerning Hilde

x---x

…I was supposed to get attached to Quatre Raberba Winner. So I did. I never expected it to get so crazy- no, not crazy, deep. I didn't think I'd end up caring.

See, I've been ER (Extended Reconnaissance, to those not in the espionage business) since I was five, found wandering around in Munich with a bag of all my clothes, and twenty euros clutched in my grubby little hand. When he found me, he was kind enough to take me in. Not many would do that, if you didn't know. Orphans aren't in high demand.

I'll always remember those two words. They were the first words I ever heard in English.

"You'll do."

They changed my life. He took me in, and taught me to watch. Plenty of people don't even see half of what's going on around them. It's almost pathetic. Cheating couples, cheating poker players, cheating students…you name it, you can see it. They shift, they squirm, they freeze up. The world's a series of tells. And he taught me every single one.

When I was six, I met Noin. She was only eight or nine or so, and we looked a lot alike actually, so we got put together as sisters for a lot of our work. She'd look out for me, and I'd try to keep her out of trouble.

Lucrezia Noin couldn't be ER if she even wanted to be. Hell, I doubt she'd be able to just be a spy, period. Noin's definitely into the more straightforward method. It's actually kinda refreshing, but back then it just seemed to get her into trouble. So, I'd try to teach her to say nothing while jabbering, to disappear in a crowd, to simply…watch.

We've never been real friendly, though. She never appreciated my efforts in teaching her the "subtler arts", as he called it.

But, back to the real story. Time went on, jobs went on, and eventually I was told to watch Quatre Raberba Winner, the infamous heir to an infamously dark fortune. And I'm the best. So, I went about it perfectly.

…Okay, _almost _perfectly.

God, the first time I saw Duo it was like looking in a mirror. Everything I could have been if he hadn't taken me in was staring me in the face. Well, glaring, actually, but who really cares?

I broke the rules. I got attached. I made friends. I gave up my place in the shadows to chat with them, to get along with them, to feel friendship. Maybe even a little love, too. I'll admit I've got a little crush on Duo, but come on, who doesn't? He's just plain hot. Then again, so is Quatre…

Anyway, I broke the rules, and it cost me dearly.

I panicked the first time I realized it was _THE Heero Yuy _my boys were hanging out with. And don't say that's an overreaction- it's not. Yuy gives new meaning to the phrase 'mad scientist'. And have you even SEEN his art? It's creepy.

I wanted out. So, I decided to finish my job, and then I could go back home and pretend I'd never met my boys and I'd never had friends and everything would be normal again.

It's too bad things didn't work out that way. I don't want to be stuck owning a scrap yard the rest of my life.

x---x

A/N: YAY! Specials! 11.2 IS coming, never you mind. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! WHEEE! I hope you guys have enjoyed my present to you! I had plenty of fun writing it.

**I have a request, though. When reviewing, please suggest something to improve on. POLITELY, but still constructive. Thank you!** (And not "update sooner". I'm already trying to work on that one…)

READER RESPONSES (And WOW are there lots of 'em…I love you guys!): 

ms trick: (takes the cookie while the muse is mid-orgy) Yum! Thanks! I'm glad you liked last chapter; I was actually pretty worried. Thanks for the cookie!

Sefarina Malaika: You need more, you got more! Hope you don't hurt yourself doing that little happydance of yours…

Kaaera: Actually, 'prplsldr' is supposed to be "Purple Soldier", but it does make "Purple Leader", too. Hadn't actually noticed that…clever. And I LOVE how you talk about random stuff in your reviews! Then I can feel like I'm actually having a conversation with you, albeit a rather delayed one… Huh. You know, maybe I should just do that? (shrug) Well, tell me whatcha think. Thanks, as always! And don't worry, I'm (usually) intentionally confusing. It makes me feel clever.

Duet: Awww, you're so niiice! I wrote more! Woo! I'm about as excited as you, honestly…I was utterly STUCK for a while there…o.O Oh well. Not anymore! YAY!

BrokenChains: Special request granted! And I love you too!

KawaiiTenshi27: I'll probably be emailing you mid-chapter 12 for Latin help, if that's okay with you. You'll get spoilers and EVERYTHING! How thrilling! All those little interactions make me all squishy and happy inside, too. I feel stupid, but it's true.

Hey there!: Well, request granted! I too am fond of Crazy!Relena…then again, I'm her writer…(blush) But hey, thanks for reviewing!

SouriMaxwellYuy068: Hah. You must hate me; you got the special, but absolutely NONE of the answers you wanted. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you love the characters!

Lost-Remembrance: Request granted! Glad you liked part I!

Serenity Cathedral/serena429: Oh look, you changed your name! And look, I actually DID update pretty dang fast! I'm so proud of me!

Lizzie: Aww, I got my grammar complimented…(blush) You're so sweet! I'm glad you like Prodigy!

K.L.W: Request granted! And there's definitely more humor, never you mind. (And Sanitarium's going to be featured rather soon, so yay! More Metallica.) Stunt? What stunt? (innocent look)

El Terrible Fizzy: I…LOVE…YOU…TOO, although I'm rather concerned about how I'd live in your closet. Well, unless it's a walk-in with an internet connection. Then it'd be just fine. ;)

Noroi-Inu: I updated! The insanity of how fast, too! It's all from those darn puppy eyes…but hey, you wanna pet Trowa/Quatre, I ain't gonna stop you. I'd just warn you they're a mite possessive of each other…

Ezzy: I am MADLY in love with useful feedback, and therefore your reviews. They're worth waiting for.

gods sent angel: Well, sorry you had to suffer through Relena being in the scene. But hey, at least you didn't have to sit and stare at your computer for too long this time! Yay for that! You know, I HATE canon-Relena, but Prodigy-Relena I'm kind of fond of…crazy. Not monumentally, mind, but fond nonetheless.

Artemis: …Stealing Prodigy? (tries to restrain twitching eyebrow) Okay then…(twitch twitch)

MistressofHeaven: Oh, wow. I feel truly honored. Thank you for thinking little old Prodigy's worth your review!

Souten: Aww, thank you! I feel so loved! Hope you enjoyed the special(s)!

_And, as always, THANKS FOR READING! Review if you feel like it!_


	13. Complications Part II

A/N: My muse finally woke up and nagged my ass into writing. Sorry, everyone. So, 11 Part II: In which Heero shamelessly forces himself at Duo and is all-around naughty, things are revealed (kinda), the plot thickens, and I got to type "Duo exploded"! Enjoy!

Writing in a bit different way now in some parts…Please give opinions.

And yes. That DID happen in an episode of Buffy. And I don't own that either.

(Formatting is being freaky. Sorry.)

Warnings: Crazy, Crazy Heero. Seriously, **CRAZY**. I mean it.

Prodigy

Chapter 11

Complications

(Part II)

"You know, I thought it'd be weirder coming back to school," Duo said, a half-smile on his lips. But in the short time Heero'd known him, he had come to see past the smile, past the mask, and go straight for the eyes. And they were still seething with barely restrained rage.

"Relax," Heero stated- advice he himself could have used. Regardless of the fact he'd graduated high school at eleven, the large brick building was daunting. Oh, not from the classes of course, from the students.

Heero found himself growling, and certainly didn't mind when the flood of students edged just that bit further away from him and Duo. He was NOT a people person.

Duo snorted, throwing a glance over his shoulder. "Like you're one to talk. You're just itching for a flamethrower, aren't you?"

"Cyanide, actually," Heero bit out as they crossed the dreaded threshold and entered the horror of high school one more time. "Mix it in the cafeteria's cookies- quick, efficient, and not too messy."

Chuckling, Duo shook his head. "Seriously, how much time do you spend thinking about these things?" The crowd of students continued to part for them, whispers their shimmering red carpet of malice as they reached Duo's neglected locker.

"I don't think you want to know," Heero said truthfully, and backed away as Duo easily undid the mundane boobytraps on the thin metal door.

"Didn't that happen in an episode of Buffy, anyway?"

Heero frowned. "Hope not."

"Why Dr. Yuy, did you just make a joke?" Duo jammed a few textbooks into Heero's arms, his entire torso consumed by the locker. "Hmm…think that qualifies more as a quip. Maybe a jibe…AHA!" Duo victoriously held up a scratched-up notebook, the tattered remains of a black cover clinging feebly onto the cardboard cover.

Heero looked at him blandly.

"Whaaat? It's for notes," he retorted, hugging it defensively to his chest. Then, after a moment's consideration, he gently placed the notebook on top of Heero's pile of hardback tomes, grinning at him.

Heero just looked at him.

He wasn't used to seeing Duo so…_chipper. _His passion and danger and raw emotion seemed to be lightly scraped under a glass mask of smiles, like Relena with her jam and bread at tea-parties, and he didn't really know how to deal with this. Anger, confusion, wariness, defensiveness, even lust he (relatively) knew how to deal with. But these fake hints at the deeper, true emotions? It was like playing with unlabeled chemicals. Blindfolded.

Heero smirked. Sounded almost…fun.

At the menacing smirk, a wary smile gripped Duo's lips. "Eh…Heero?" The smirk deepened. "Uh, don't combust anyone who doesn't deserve it, okay?"

The way Heero's eyes were glinting didn't help his nerves one bit.

And then Duo was up against the closed locker door, books flung aside and smashing into an unfortunate freshman and oh god Heero's MOUTH was THERE and it was so delicious with the gentle, demanding movements of Heero's atrociously perfect lips and such soft hair and pretty, pretty scientist and then his eyes slammed open when the pyromaniac's tongue started teasing at his teeth-

Which was when Heero found himself on the tile floor, panting just as hard as Duo and completely ignoring the traffic jam their public display of affection had brought about. The gob-smacked crowd just gaped as Heero gathered the books from the hall, a satisfied smirk on his lips. Duo had his eyes closed, back still against the locker door as he tried to calm down.

When the crowd finally started moving again, Duo's furious indigo glare almost made Heero apologize.

Almost.

"Come on," Duo growled, grabbing Heero's arm and practically jogging away from the scene of the crime. "We've got physics."

x---x

"I don't understand you."

Quatre's voice snapped Wufei's concentration, and his head turned towards the bedside. Cool aqua eyes were sizing him up, weighing each individual part and trying to find a verdict on the whole.

Wufei glared at him. "You don't need to."

He smiled slightly, and shrugged. "That's true. But it doesn't stop me from wanting to." Quatre stretched his shoulders out, even though one hand always remained clasped with Trowa's. "Like, for instance, why you're here instead of with Duo and Heero. That seems kind of counterproductive to saving Duo's life. At least, to me."

"He asked me to stay," Wufei replied, coal black eyes returning to the door. "It's a way to start repaying my debt."

Quatre's head tilted to the side. "And if one of your comrades walks in and demands you return?"

Wufei snorted, head twitching back to the blonde. "I kill him, grab Barton and run." His eyes returned, again, to the door. "And they're not my comrades."

The finality of the sentence didn't escape Quatre. "You don't mind betraying them, then?"

This time, their eyes clashed. "Every one of us has betrayed something."

Quatre's eyes had turned cold. "And your honor is worth that sacrifice to you?"

"It's not honor," Wufei snapped. "It's justice. One action deserves an equal, one sacrifice deserves another." With an aggravated growl, his head turned back to the door, hands clenched into fists. "Honor is something thought up by suicidal, prideful idiots that just get themselves killed."

The silence was deafening.

Quatre hesitated, torn between the words and silence, but finally found his resolve.

"How long have you been infatuated with Duo?"

Wufei twitched.

"Go to sleep, Winner." His voice was low and quiet. "I'll wake you when they're back."

And eventually Quatre let himself fall asleep, Wufei's glaring presence at the end of the room more comforting than he thought it should be.

x---x

Despite public opinion being the exact opposite, Duo Maxwell was, in fact, not having a good day.

First, it was physics. He'd been just fine with the stares and whispers brought on by Heero's little "love spasm" that morning, since those were rather common when it came to a teenage ex-con with purple eyes and a braid the length of a bike, but of course dear Dr. Yuy had to correct the teacher. Five times. And all the while, he was Holding His Hand.

And then when they'd gone to Spanish, Heero had decided to finally shut up about his obviously advanced knowledge of every single thing in the known universe, and instead amused himself by trying to GROPE HIM for the entire hour and a half of class. It was only after Duo stood up in his chair and slammed Heero's head into his desk that he stopped, and that had made Profesora Benson quite unhappy.

But of course in English, the one class Duo liked (and, coincidentally, the one class Heero hated), Heero Yuy had begun to draw, his Sadistic Smirk in full force as he tore through page after page of loose-leaf. When Duo had finally gathered up the courage to look, Heero had apparently been expecting it, and began to flip the pages in rapid succession to show a full-motion cartoon of Heero and Duo blowing up the school and then celebrating in rather inappropriate ways in the bottom right corner as the explosion morphed into the scarily realistic charred remains of the building.

The teacher hadn't been too pleased when Duo had fallen over laughing, and then proceeded to get into a full-out fistfight over the bottom right corners of about 73 pages of paper.

Lunch had actually gone surprisingly well. Heero had been eerily silent, although that damn scary smirk of his STILL had yet to disappear as he ate lunch with sterling table manners, regardless of how long and hard and loud Duo ranted at him. It was only after he crossed into the "If-You-Talk-About-This-We-Die" area of Heero's transgressions that Heero shut him up.

With his lips.

Which, of course, gained him another punch in the face and another degree of smugness to the smirk that made Duo just want to…to…KILL HIM, the smirking, sadistic, intelligent, downright EVIL bastard that made his life more of a living hell than it was even before that damn equation made his life add another bit of suckiness to itself.

Duo glared venom at the far-too-satisfied Heero. "I hate you."

And Heero just smirked right back. "Poor baby," he cooed back (which was just fucking CREEPY). "What can I do to help?"

"YOU DAMN WELL KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP, YOU FUCKING BASTARD," Duo exploded, and the room went dead silent, aside from several pairs of rapidly shuffling feet hurrying towards the exit.

The smirk vanished, replaced by the usual Heero, albeit an eerily concerned-looking one, and Duo sagged in relief.

"Don't do that EVER AGAIN," Duo growled half-heartedly, his head gently thunking onto the tabletop. "It was fucking SCARY."

"I'm sorry," Heero said quietly, and if Duo hadn't been used to how quiet he occasionally talked he would have missed it. But, he just waved the apology aside with his hand, shaking his head as he turned back towards the normal (THANK GOD) Heero to his left.

"Why were you DOING that, anyway?"

In response, Heero grabbed something from a pocket and put it on the table, head quickly turning away at Duo's eyes. Duo looked over the tape recorder/player, confused.

"It's something Noin gave me," he said. "Use headphones if you're going to listen to the whole thing." With that, Heero simply stood up and left the room, glaring at the gawkers in the cafeteria.

Duo watched him go, eyes tracking the demolitions expert until he was out of the massive room. Frowning, he turned the volume of the tape player as low as he could, holding it against his ear as he pushed the play button.

"_- andards, you see, though my manners…so-so."_

A pause. Laughter, and polite applause, and Duo's face began to turn white as the far-too-familiar words continued on.

"_In dating there's only a few things I must see:  
Intelligence, Kindness, some kind of degree.  
Well, okay, I admit, the last is th-"_

He snapped it off, breath harsher than he'd expected. After all, it was only a poem, right? A poem…entirely about Heero…

Things started to make almost scary sense. The flirtation, the forwardness; hell, even the good table manners- all of it was mentioned in the damn poem.

And Heero had heard it.

"FUCK!" Duo screamed, and shoved the tape recorder into his battered backpack, ignoring his books and the remains of his lunch completely as he ran out the door after Heero.

x---x

A/N: WELL! How exciting. FINALLY everyone can see that yes, my poetry DOES have something to do with the actual plot.

…Crazy Heero was just plain fun to write. Poor Baby…(snicker)

**Reader Responses:** _(Due to new/previously ignored regulations (and being too wordy, which clutters Mr. Story), I'll soon just be emailing responses, so PLEASE leave your email/log in so I can actually reply! Thank you much! I LOVE YOU GUYS!)_

Lost-Remembrance: Well, yeah, they probably should have taken Heero to the hospital, but nobody was really thinking very clearly. Also, it's a common occurrence for people to stay asleep for their bodies to basically concentrate on healing, so his "coma" thing wasn't really something Trowa was seriously concerned about. (Then again, he's a zoologist, so human medicine is only a secondary sort of knowledge)

Souten: Thank you! I'm glad you like my writing.

BrokenChains: Thank you! Hmm…more detail, eh? I'll try to improve on that. My brain just goes so fast with new ideas that I have a bad habit of just skimming over what things look/feel/etc. like. Thanks for reminding me of that; I'll make an effort to improve. (And chapters WILL get longer, don't worry.)

SouriMaxwellYuy068: Thanks for your review! I'm one of those annoying people who doesn't like to just make everything happy at the end though, sorry if that's disappointing. Actually, I should warn everyone about that…see, I think realistic closure's one of the biggest, most important things, so sorry if that's disappointing. (But Prodigy does have a lot of betrayal/turncoat stuff…you never know…)(wink)

WingedBonnie: Heero Yuy is the epitome of "excessive", isn't he? (grin) Thanks for the review! Glad you liked the specials!

KawaiiTenshi27: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Oh man, your Latin dictionary can probably kick my ass three ways 'till Thursday. Now I'm all nerdy and SO glad you read Prodigy. Seriously, I should just write a scene for you, you spectacular person you.

Windy River: Honey, how many times have we done this? It's ME. I DON'T. But hey, thanks for reviewing anyway! Your smileys are always entertaining. ;)

dkAdeena: Patience, patience. The explosions are coming. Then again, I'm all stupid and got excited that I got to type "Duo exploded". (sheepish grin)

El Terrible Fizzy: Oooh, the Metaphorical Closet Of Love! So many possible innuendos, but I'll just say thank you, and you're in the Metaphorical Closet of Love deep within my heart too! Hope you've enjoyed this installment!

Serenity Cathedra a.k.a serena429: You know, I still have yet to get to Beyblade. I've been getting through all the Necessary Anime that everyone suggests for me, and that's next up on my list. I've gotten to Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Trigun, Naruto (although only manga…), and Kyou Kara Maou (SO funny). Beyblade's coming though, don't worry! And then I'll be ALL OVER that fandom too! SO exciting.

Kaaera: AAHHHH! I always get so excited to respond to you…sorry for the random happy!outburst. Ouch. Running is NOT fun. I was on the track team for a grand total of ONE day in middle school, until then I realized you actually had to be, you know, good. But oh well! Yep, so many Hildes. The problem is she's basically a female clone of Duo in the anime, so I just sort of stick a "stereotypical street-smart gal" persona into her. Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday! And as soon as I actually have time, I'm gonna start being fun and random and stuff to you in reviews too! YAY!

Ravel queen: Thank you! See, you got a bit of 1x2 goodness, even if Heero is being downright insane…(shifty eyes) Someone's gonna be mad about that, I just KNOW it…And HEY! Chemical Romance WILL be updated, as soon as I have the time. If I barely manage to update my Primary (Prodigy), my Secondary (CR) is gonna be even slower. I promise, it's just neglected, not forgotten!

MistressofHeaven: I agree, most villains are in fact redeemable. That's one of the reasons I love the bad guys in, like, EVERYTHING. They usually have more interesting motives, too. Sorry this chapter's not all "action"-y; it's almost all in 12.

Silver Cateyes: Oh my god, you made me spit water all over my keyboard when I read your review! First time that's ever happened. Honestly, if you sent your evil muses, I think mine (aka Dante the Horny Bisexual Bastard Who Makes Me Write) would just shag them senseless. Seriously. Ahh, your questions are indeed good ones to ponder! (cackles) You'll see, pet, you'll see.

Noroi-Inu: Unloyal? Why would you feel unloyal? Honestly, I get so excited to hear from my loyal reviewers I smile all day. And for a sullen bitch like me, that's SAYING something. And I can basically guarantee you DON'T suck at writing. You either need practice, or inspiration. If I can help with either (or just beta; I do that now, apparently…), I'd be more than happy to!

Sutoomu: THANK YOU! I'm glad I made you freak out. You just made my nonexistent ego suddenly burst into enormous, city-smashing being. Thank you so much!

Ezzy: You are VERY, VERY loved. Seriously…(glomps on and refuses to let go) I'm glad you liked the specials! I always get kind of worried I shouldn't post them for some reason…guess it's that whole non-linear timeline thing.

x---x

Be Aware:I've gotten into Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Trigun, Naruto and Kyou Kara Maou while my muse was sleeping. Expect (eventual) ficcage in a couple o' these areas from me. (shrug) Just if you were curious...


	14. Informoia

A/N: Look at that length- and that's WITHOUT the reader responses (which'll be elaborated on at the end). And look! We FINALLY get some background information on people! YES!

How sad is this? I didn't even realize Prodigy could be considered dark until I saw I'm in a C2 called "Death tones", and then I was all, "What? But…Prodigy's FUNNY!" And then I skimmed the whole thing and realized that this really IS kind of depressing.

I'm a nerd, as you know. "Informoia" is a splicing of the words Information and Paranoia, and was one of the original title options. Then I decided it was just stupid and went with Prodigy! Yay for random trivia!

And WOW is Duo aggressive when he wants to be. That said, read on!

Prodigy

Chapter 12

Informoia

_The barn was green. He didn't know if he was running towards it or from it, but wherever his eyes turned it loomed over him, glaring its insidious intent over the twelve-year-old. The grass was wet, the sky was a murky shade of gray, and he could still hear the crows. _

"_Come on, kid," an eerily familiar voice sighed from behind him, resignation dripping from his lips. "You really want to risk her life?"_

_He pivoted, spinning back to see the speaker, but the barn was still there, always in front, and he couldn't escape it. _

"_She's my sister," his empty voice echoed around the field, and the thigh-high grass shifted in a breeze he couldn't feel. "She's mine."_

"_And the other way around."_

_Again, Trowa twisted, but the speaker wasn't there. Panicking emerald eyes spun, but everywhere the barn stood, the crows screamed, and the man was always right behind him, regardless of how hard he ran. _

"_Let her go, kid."_

"_You first," he snapped, and decided._

_His feet pounded against the frozen earth, crunching the dying grass with his bare feet, and the green barn slowly grew larger and larger in his line of sight._

"_CATHERINE!"_

"Trowa!" _a voice called out._

"_CATHERINE! CATHERINE!"_

"Trowa!" _It sounded familiar, and panicked, and he didn't WANT That Voice to sound so scared._

"_Make your choice, kid," the man spoke, utterly disinterested. "They're both waiting."_

He chose, and his eyes met scared aqua. "Trowa? Trowa, can you hear me?"

"Quatre." His voice was hoarse, but that didn't keep the blonde's face from breaking into a heart-bursting smile, and he flung his arms around the brunette, carefully hugging the injured boy.

"Oh, Trowa," Quatre whispered. "I was so worried."

Trowa blinked at the ceiling, which was surprisingly interesting for once- someone had painted little blue butterflies all over the ceiling tiles. "Why?"

Quatre tensed. "WHY? You were SHOT, Trowa! And then you started screaming out 'Catherine'." And from that tone of voice, Trowa could tell that was probably not what his boyfriend had wanted to hear him call out in the middle of the…day? What was going on? How long had he been out?

"She's my sister," Trowa said quietly as Quatre withdrew back to his chair.

"I didn't know you have a sister," the blonde frowned, obviously hurt by this omission.

The brunette's eyes slid closed as he winced. "Not anymore. She's dead."

And, Trowa thought wryly, the silence probably could have eaten the metaphorical white elephant sitting dazedly in the middle of the room in one big bite.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Wufei said simply, and Trowa nodded.

"I'm going to go back to sleep, Quatre," Trowa said tiredly, and looked up at Quatre again, trying to ignore the tortured look that HE had put on his face. "Wake me up when Heero gets back?"

"Of course," Quatre said, trying to smile for the injured young man. "Goodnight, Trowa." When Trowa had fallen back into a true sleep, determined aqua eyes snapped over to Wufei.

"Guard him with your life, understand?" Quatre snapped, and Wufei snorted.

"I'll guard him with my mortally wounded," he deadpanned.

"If he's injured, and you're still alive, you won't HAVE a life," Quatre glared, and Wufei couldn't help but shrink back into his seat a bit from the sheer vehemence of the intense blonde. "I'll be back soon."

With that, Wufei moved to the chair next to the bedside, and Quatre walked out into the hall, cell phone snapped out as he began dialing. His feet guided him to the nearest waiting room, and the call finally connected.

"Yes?" A deep man's voice answered, terse yet respectful and to the point.

"I need you to get anything you can about a Catherine Barton," he said, having only a moment of regret. If Trowa wasn't going to talk about it, Quatre would find someone who damn well would. This could be something important after all, he reasoned to himself, and therefore there wasn't any time to wait for Trowa to get over his information paranoia (which was far too common in their little group anyway). Speaking of which… "Get everything you can on Trowa Barton, too."

"…Forgive me, Master Quatre, but-"

"I know, and I've already made up my mind," Quatre cut him off. "Thank you for your concern, though."

"I'll have your information as soon as possible," the man said in the same respectful tone, and Quatre found himself glaring at the linoleum floor tiles.

"See that you do. You have 24 hours," Quatre said, his cold Business Voice slipping on, and before he could finally change his mind he snapped the phone shut, hanging up on his associate and striding back into the hospital room, to take the quickly vacated seat. He held Trowa's hand again, and turned his head towards the window, for once unable to look straight at the brunette who'd tried to give his life to save Quatre's.

"The birds are quiet today," Quatre said calmly. Wufei didn't respond, glaring at the door. Quatre just tightened his fragile connection with Trowa, unwilling to admit he needed it far more than the sleeping boy did.

x---x

Duo knew he was getting close as soon as he heard the first kid smash into the lockers.

"Oooh, so the pretty faggot can hi-" A voice called out, only to be cut off by a shriek, followed by a very loud thud, which was quickly accompanied by yet another set of locker doors grating against their metal sides.

"SHIT! Did you see that!" A voice shrieked, and Duo turned the corner to see a shifting huddle of boys surrounding a glaring Heero, wrath billowing off his frame. For a moment, Duo was tempted to just let the psychotic scientist deal with it, but decided that dealing with a murder trial would be a bad thing to deal with along with the people already trying to kill them.

One boy had a hand jammed into the slits of a locker door, limply hanging from the appendage as a swelling bruise began to form on his left cheek. Another was slowly sliding down the adjacent metal surface, eyes rolled up into his skull and a surprised twitch stuck on his face. Two boys were slowly backing away, and the other idiots were obviously slow to realize Heero Yuy wasn't a weak little pretty boy.

"You know, calling him pretty makes you kinda gay too," Duo called out, a devilish smile twisting his lips.

"Go away," Heero growled, not even glancing at his braided companion.

"Yeah right," Duo snorted. "You think we can pay for a few murder trials right now? Not to mention I'd be chained and re-jailed before you can scream out 'self-defense'." He stretched, overemphasizing the motion as he sighed.

"That's why I'm fighting them, and not you," Heero said calmly, and Duo snatched his hand as it started to travel down towards his old mustard-colored sneakers. Or, more specifically, what was stored in the ratty old shoes. Blue eyes glared daggers at him. "Let go."

"What do you think I am, STUPID? I'm not gonna let you explode the idiots, Heero! They may be ignorant sons of bitches, but that doesn't mean you get to blow up them AND the building before me!"

Just as he was about to shout back, Heero paused, simply STARING at Duo with shell-shocked eyes.

Duo frowned. "What? I've got dibs!"

"You said we."

"Huh?" Duo's head tilted to the side, and Heero's eyes just seemed to grow larger by the second.

"You said 'we', Duo."

"Uh…" Duo shifted, trying to ignore the fact he was blushing. He couldn't remember the last time he'd blushed, but that could have been the almost scary intensity in Heero's eyes getting to him. He took a deep breath, and his indigo eyes fearlessly snapped straight into Prussian blue. "Yeah, I said 'we'." His head tilted to the side, gaze blazing as he closed in on the scientist. "You got a problem with that?"

Heero smirked. "I p-mmmmf!"

He was cut off by the slightly chapped lips that were suddenly pressed against his own. Heero's eyes widened in surprise just as Duo's slid shut, and a hand fisted in his shirt, a firmly demanding pull that brought them closer together as Duo deepened the kiss, tongue running along the roof of Heero's mouth as his other hand snuck into disheveled brown tresses. Heero shuddered, and his eyes closed at the intoxicating sensation.

Duo was kissing him. DUO WAS KISSING HIM, and all Heero Yuy could manage to do was hold on and try not to melt into the floor at the excruciating pleasure of what that sinfully perfect tongue did to him. Before he realized it they were up against the lockers, said tongue drawing back and HOLY FUCK, Duo just bit his lower lip, and Heero whimpered like a kicked puppy at the sharp delight of Duo's teeth nipping his skin.

"We're gonna have a nice long chat real soon," Duo muttered against his neck, and all Heero could do was nod enthusiastically, hands sliding under the ubiquitous black t-shirt and onto unbearably perfect muscles and OH god that bite on his neck was going to leave a mark, not that he really cared because dear fuck did that feel good.

His pulse was racing, not really caring that the few remaining kids in the hall were full-out gawking at the scene they were making. But, Duo would probably care (though he had no idea why, they were all idiots anyway), so he managed to groan out a husky "People".

Not that Duo noticed, of course, being too busy exploring and burning Heero's neck and tasting every bit of skin he could get to, and possibly moving to some not so easily accessible in the near future. Not that Heero was objecting, but he decided to try again, gathering all his cursed resolve and moving Duo just that little bit away so that they weren't pressed against each other and the wall of cold, biting metal lockers.

The betrayal in those purple eyes was enough to make Heero downright ashamed. Pulse racing, still more panting than breathing, he motioned to the group of gaping students behind Duo. "Audience," he managed to get out, and watched as Duo's flushed face turned scarlet, then a ghostly white, and then seemed to settle at a brilliant shade of pink.

"I think we've been at school long enough, don't you?" Duo managed to get out, and Heero nodded quickly. "Okay then." With that, all that was left of Duo was a blur headed straight for the parking lot.

Smirking and very proud of a job well done, Heero followed after.

x---x

"Turn right." Heero's voice sliced the car's unnatural silence into tatters.

Duo's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, face tight. "I'm going back to the hospital."

"Please turn right. It's important."

Duo glared at him. "How important are we talking? One-hour-to-save-the-world important, or forgot-to-turn-off-the-stove important, or dingoes-ate-my-"

"Important," Heero cut him off, face eerily impassive.

With a shrug, Duo complied, and soon enough found himself parking in front of the mental institution, a somber Heero striding up the steps with a determination Duo had only seen when he was making Wufei's face hit the ground, or blowing something up. It was a frightening combination, to say the least.

The receptionist gaped at the two as they entered, eyes immediately latching onto Heero with watery amazement. "Dr Yuy…! We heard you were dead!"

"I am," Heero stated, glaring daggers at the frozen, terrified woman. "I need to see Miss Peacecraft." He paused, and the daggers turned to long, sharp, deadly cold icicles. "NOW."

As the woman gulped and scurried in front of them, escorting them down an ominously empty hallway, Duo glared at the scientist.

"What the HELL is going on?"

Heero's face remained impassive, a shadow lurking in his eyes as he remained silent.

"Listen," Duo snarled. "If you don't tell me, I'm going to MAKE you-"

"Here we are," the receptionist said, fear adding a warbling tone of panic to her words as she stopped in front of a wooden door.

"Key," Heero stated, and the woman's shaking hands fished a bandolier from her neck, fingers quivering on what was obviously the master key, so full of ridges and bumps it looked like it had been run through a wood chipper. "You can run now, but don't call anyone for a couple hours."

And run she did, almost falling out of her black leather heels as she tore down the tile hallway.

Heero ignored her, though, and Duo could only watch in amazement as the clearly deranged man (not that it was new, but there was something DIFFERENT about this batch of crazy…) frowned and opened the door with a practiced twist of a key. Before Duo could even consider his options, the psycho grabbed his wrist and pulled him in, sitting him in a plain chair resting in the corner with the barest hint of apology showing in his blue eyes.

The figure in the white bed shifted, honey brown hair sliding along the pillow. Light blue eyes opened, and blinked up at the scientist suddenly standing over her. "…Heero?" She frowned, rubbing at the sides of her eyes. "What brings you to Sanq-"

"Relena." His voice was eerily hypnotic. "Relena Darlian, listen to me."

The girl froze for a moment, and then her eyes weren't so big and bright, her face wasn't so peerless and innocent. She sat up, entire awareness fixed on Heero Yuy.

"He's coming."

Duo stared at the exchange, dumbfounded. That wasn't the voice he'd heard before, that of a silly, regal little girl. Something had _changed_.

This wasn't a frivolous little princess. This was a woman, in all her dark intelligence.

Heero seemed to return her intensity, yet glanced back at Duo for a moment.

"I know," he said, and paused. "I'd like to ask you to do two things for me."

An eyebrow rose eloquently. "You can ASK…" Duo could just feel the answering smirk.

"Relena Darlian, I'd like you to meet Duo Maxwell," he said, and dear lord, did he almost sound nervous? Shit, that was making HIM nervous now…

But, as soon as wry blue eyes shifted to him, it was gone. "I'm glad to finally meet you," this Relena said, a soft, true smile on her lips. "I'd always wondered what sort of person Heero would introduce me to. You're treating him well?"

"Uh…" Duo said intelligently, simply STARING at the woman, who laughed, amused, as Heero actually blushed and muttered "_Relena_…" like she was an older sister bent on his humiliation.

"Well, I'm very pleased to meet you, and hope we get to talk more later, preferably when HE isn't around," Relena said kindly, sending a teasing, lacy-white elbow into Heero's ribs as she winked at Duo. Heero glared at her, but there was a small, bittersweet smile on his lips.

"Yeah…me too," Duo said, almost surprised by the honesty of his own words.

With a final warm smile at him, Relena turned back to Heero. "Well, lover boy? Next request?"

Heero paused, not even reacting to the obvious gibe as he sobered, face paling slightly. "It's not a request. I need you to do it, but you have a choice." Again, he paused, and when he spoke again his voice had a slight quiver to it. "Relena, I need you to either forget me too, or remember everything."

Stark horror showed through Relena's face. "No." Her knees suddenly rose up, and her arms circled them. "No, Heero. NO!" She was suddenly rocking, face pressed against her knees. "I don't want to I don't want to please Heero PLEASE I don't want either oh god oh godohgodohgodnotTHEM-"

There was something WEIRD going on, because immediately Relena froze, her knees dropped, and her head tilted back. For a moment, the world froze, and Duo watched as her back arched in slow motion, head tilting back as far as it could go. And then, she screamed, the sound tearing out of her soul and wrapping around the walls of the room.

As Duo stared, he found himself wrenched out of the chair again, and forcibly hauled out of the room, the door snapping shut behind them and cutting off the screams with a terrifying abruptness.

"What the FUCK was THAT, Yuy!" Duo snapped, ignoring the haunted look on Heero's face because all he could see was that poor girl shrieking for help from whatever the bastard scientist had done to her. "There is something SERIOUSLY fucked up about EVERYTHING you seem to have something to do with, and I'm SICK of it! Sick of the secrets, the on-off-ness, the INSANITY, EVERYTHING! First it was that goddamn equation of yours-"

"It's not mine."

Heero's whisper scorched through the hallway, cutting Duo off mid-rant. And then all the indigo-eyed boy could do was stare while hunted, barren blue eyes slowly met his own. Years of SOMETHING looked back up at him.

With a slow, almost cautious motion, the scientist's arms wrapped around Duo, head propped against the unresisting underachiever's shoulder, and shook.

"Hey, you okay?" Duo's hands found themselves moving onto Heero's back, trying to stop the almost violent shaking. If it weren't for the fact his shoulder was purely dry, he would have thought Heero was crying.

"I'm sorry," Heero whispered into his shirt, grip tightening.

"It's okay," Duo whispered back. "Hey, whatever it is, you can always fix it. And if you can't do it, I can, eh?"

A harsh, choked laugh was muffled but effective proof Duo had said the right thing. A long, deep sigh said that no, he didn't believe a word Duo said, but it was kinda nice to hear anyway.

"I promise I'll tell you the truth," Heero sighed again, making no motion to move. Not that Duo was complaining. This was pretty nice, actually. "You deserve it."

"Gee, thanks," Duo muttered.

"You're welcome."

Duo snorted. Typical Heero. "Idiot."

"Dumbass."

"Freak."

x---x

A/N: They just REFUSED to be utterly fluffy. Stupid boys.

Random Buffy nod: "Baby-Eating Dingoes" is the name of Oz's band. I couldn't resist.

And yes, Relena really DOES have a point! Wow. After I finished up Sea of Silence, I actually became a fan of her. Yes, that's right, I'm a ravenous 1x2x1 fan, AND like Relena! Well, the Endless Waltz/non-"Heeeeeeerrrrroooooooooo!" version of her.

Oh? What's this then? BACKGROUND next chapter! WOOOOWWWWW! (bounces about giddily) Yes, after…dear god, I've been writing this thing for WAY over a year! Holy CRAP am I slow. Sorry 'bout that.

READER RESPONSES:

If you didn't get an email, I am SO sorry. I'm having trouble remembering stuff nowadays, so…sorry, my darlings. I really am crazy about you all, promise! And I'll probably catch you later on, so…yeah!

-

Now, **a VERY important question** (to me). I have ANOTHER fic (three chapters done already), but this one Naruto, and NaruSasu, and so very weird.

Description: _A jutsu experiment sends Team 7 into a dark world where Naruto's been hokage of the ruined Konoha since he was 13, Sasuke murdered Itachi at 9, and Sakura's trying to kill both of them. What's going on? And how can they get back to their own world, when they barely know how they got there in the first place?_ SasuNaru, SakuIno

It's tentatively titled Reality in Alteration. The first chapter can be found on my livejournal, but…should I put it up here? Yea or nay?

-

As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to review! Love abounds!


	15. The Truth

A/N: It reads like a Special! It looks like a special! But, NO! IT'S THE INFAMOUS CHAPTER 13! And I prefer to think of Dr. J as a "Zack-esque" type of character (from FF7…? Yeah), where they're important, but you NEVER see them in the actual story/game.

And be ready to read the same exact phrase over, and over, and over, because it is almost constantly cycling through the brain of Dr. Heero Yuy, PhD.

Warnings: Immense amount of back-story, which may result in lots and lots of scrolling and information overload (the secondary title for this chapter, if curious). Slap-forehead-with-hand-now sort of decision making from an eleven-year-old Heero, and…well, I'll just let the chapter speak for itself now. ANGST! OH DEAR LORD THE (appropriately) MASSIVE ANGST!

Prodigy

Chapter 13

The Truth

A half hour of silence had passed since they'd turned onto the county highway, and Duo was still not sure if he should be unnerved or reassured by Heero's flawless directions. True, it was reassuring to know they weren't lost, but the question of how- and more importantly WHY the scientist knew Rural Route 36 like the back of his hand…the uneasiness was gnawing away on his already-frayed nerves.

"Turn right," Heero said quietly, and Duo frowned at him.

"Are you blind? There's NO ROAD."

And indeed, there WAS no road. Just a big field of the natural grassy flora and a tree almost reminiscent of an equally boring field in that Shawshank Redemption movie... well, except that one had an awesome stone wall and a smaller forest nearby, whereas this one was smack dab in the middle of nowhere and just _reeked_ of middle-of-nowhereness.

"Just turn right," Heero snapped.

With a glare and a quick mental shrug, Duo complied. He seemed to do that a lot, ever since he'd met the scientist.

He parked under the tree's canopy, and Heero got out of the car, walked over to the tree, and sat down on the ground, getting comfortable and obviously waiting for Duo to follow. And he did, locking the car out of pure habit.

"…So." Duo sat himself down next to Heero, strangely nervous. "You gonna start talking now?"

Heero just looked up at the sky through the leaves of the tree, and let out a soft sigh. His eyes closed, and he began to speak.

"All of this really started when I was just a little kid. An orphan, actually- one of the nameless ones they'd find wandering around cities, lost and dazed…"

_He blinked up at the man with big, amazed blue eyes, ignoring the rain falling down from the pipes and rooflines of the city._

_The man smiled at him- an affair of creasing skin and glasses pressing against weathered cheeks. "Hey, boy. Been out here long?"_

_The boy stared back, fascinated by the way his water-streaked glasses glinted in the neon lights. "…I think so…"_

"_Do you have someone to take care of you?" The man asked, pulling off his long white coat and draping it across the boy's shoulders. "Parents? A guardian?" _

_The boy shook his head, water flying off his overgrown brown locks. _

_Still smiling, the man held out his hand. "Well then. Might as well get you out of this rain, eh?" _

_There was a moment of hesitation, a moment of wariness from the boy, and the man waited, hoped for the trust to come._

_The boy put his small hand into the man's large, grizzled palm, and the man smiled at him again as they set off into the streets, their lonely silhouettes flickering in the rain._

"His name was Dr. J," Heero said. "He took me in, named me, started teaching me, and found I was a quick study. When I turned ten, he finally fully adopted me, and let me go into public school. But, when they tested me…"

_"Coaching a student is unfair to all the other examinees," the woman said, adjusting her pressed jacket as she glared at the boy's guardian. "I can understand the desire to assist your charge-"_

__

"My son," J corrected, using that tone of voice the boy knew was trouble.

__

"Your SON," the woman conceded, but the boy could hear the underlying disapproval, the sound of disbelief and mockery lining the words. "Doctor, we wish to have accurate results, so we can best teach him. Do you understand that?"

__

"What do you think I am, retarded?" J snapped. "Of course I understand that. I didn't coach Heero."

__

"Of course," the woman said innocently. "And a ten-year-old tests at the level of college graduates all on his own practically every day of the week."

__

"With Heero? Yes." J leaned in. "Listen, girlie, the first time I tested him he was five, half starved, and straight off the streets, and could do logic problems that would fry your painfully mediocre brain. His IQ is higher than MINE, for Christ's sake. You put him in with all those sniveling brats his biological age, and he will be BORED and, worst of all, WASTED." He leaned in closer. "And I refuse to have my son's intellect wasted on long multiplication and Sarah, Plain And Tall_."_

_"…Sir, you will back away and calm down, or I WILL call the authorities."_

_"And YOU will either accept the fact those test scores are ENTIRELY his own, or I bash your head in with my carbon-fiber cane."_

"…I see where you got your lovely personality from," Duo muttered.

"Thank you," Heero said. Duo chose to let him live with his delusions. "Eventually he managed to convince the woman to place me in high school, as a sophomore. It was terrifying, but still boring, and I ended up graduating in a year anyway.

"But, on the day before I left for college, there was something different with him." Heero frowned. "And that was the day he let me into his workroom."

_All the time he had lived with Dr. J, they had lived in a decent-sized home, plenty large enough for an aging scientist and his young adopted son. The boy had his own room, and the man had two rooms all for his own. The first was his bedroom. The second's door was always locked._

_Always._

_But, on the day Heero was leaving for college, Dr. J limped over to the kitchen table, fixing a severe look towards his adopted son. "Heero."_

_Toast halfway to his mouth, Heero looked up from the newspaper. "Yes?"_

_Dr. J turned around, limping towards that strange locked door. "Come." _

_The boy set his toast down and followed, watching in awe as his guardian pulled out a skeleton key and stuck it through the lock, waited five seconds, and then turned it. _

"_You can never be too careful, Heero. Better safe than sorry doesn't even sum it up," J stated, and the door swung open. He waited three seconds, and then walked through, clunking his cane on a strange bump in the wall. "Close the door behind you." Heero complied._

_When he turned around, all he could do was stare. _

_Board after board after board of numbers, letters, and equations swirled about the windowless room, barely making room for a single computer in the center. The wall holding the door was floor-to-ceiling books, some looking positively ancient while others seemed to be hot off the press. _

"_This is my legacy to you," Dr. J stated. "I know you have a photographic memory, but make sure you memorize everything perfectly. Every decimal, every degree, every single portion of the equation. Burn it into your brain, Heero."_

_Heero complied again, marveling at the sheer genius of the equation. It clearly was incomplete, an entire other board blank at the very edge._

"…_got it?" The boy was amazed- it was the first time he'd ever heard his mentor sound nervous._

"_Yes," Heero responded truthfully, then turned to look J straight in the eye, for once feeling his age. "What is it?"_

"…_my legacy, to you. I call it Nightfire, simply because I'm a scientist, not a goddamn writer. It's descriptive enough for you." He paused, letting his defensiveness ebb away. "You'll figure it out when you're older. Of that I have no doubt." Again, Dr. J paused, shifting slightly. "I…I'm proud of you, Heero. Not just what you've done, but what I know you can do. Will do." _

Heero broke off, eyes latching back onto the sky, and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I…I was on the plane when I heard the news. A bomb, detonated right after…after he knew I wouldn't see or hear it.

"I'm not an idiot, so I knew why he had to do it. Why he'd shown me the equation." Heero paused again. "And I also knew why he waited.

"About ten minutes after my plane landed, I met Lucrezia Noin."

__

"Yuy!" a girl's voice shouted out, almost breathily, and the boy's reddened eyes looked up to see a woman waving frantically at him from behind the belt-like ropes that plagued airports. "Heero Yuy! I was sent by the University!"

_A lie. What did these people think he was, an idiot?_

_Oh, wait, no. They thought he was an eleven-year-old kid._

_Deciding to be better safe than sorry, Heero ran, the young girl's flabbergasted expression watching his back disappear into the throng of hugging families and scurrying businessmen, and for the first time in his life tried to look mediocre._

"It didn't help much, though," Heero sighed. "They roomed me with the other youngest male they could find. And that's how I met a young man who called himself Zechs Marquis, even though his real name was Milliardo Peacecraft. He was fifteen at the time."

__

Long, silky pale-blonde hair hung down from an aristocratic face, brushing against a body of chiseled perfection, penetrating pale blue eyes peering out from the waterfall of white-gold silk.

_Heero hated him on sight._

"_So," that deep voice purred out. Even while he was lugging a box of books into the room, the man sounded like a sex kitten. "What's your major?"_

_Better safe than sorry. Something that wouldn't arouse suspicion, something with nothing to do with the equation, something to keep him alive just for a few more years. That was all he needed. What else did he like? Not science, certainly not math, not English…_

_Heero smirked. "Art."_

"…THAT'S why you were an art major?" Duo asked.

Heero frowned at him. "I was eleven. It seemed like a good idea at the time." He shrugged. "Plus I'd always liked diagramming and drawing and painting models, so I didn't expect it would be too bad.

"And it wasn't. I was world renowned in just a year, even deemed a child art prodigy."

__

"Mr. Yuy, I must say, your art is undeniably distinctive," the critic- the fourth one tonight – said, swirling the wine in his glass and watching it bead on the sides. "Your brush strokes are both bold yet perfectly controlled, and your subject matter…I've never seen its ilk."

"_Thank you," Heero said, trying not to beat the man over the head in sheer boredom. _

"_You simply must tell me where your inspiration comes from."_

_Heero, twelve but already well aware of how to work the critics, smiled thinly. "I know better than to reveal my tricks." He paused. "Better safe than sorry, after all."_

"_Ah, I understand," the critic said, nodding like he actually knew something. Doubtful, since the man had the intelligence of a napkin. "Well then, would you at least explain the titles? For example, my personal favorite of tonight, J. D. Rooct. It's obviously a portrait, but…whose, if I may ask?"_

_J. D. Rooct. An oil-and-canvas painting of flowing, swirling, fiery colors that, from the right perspective and mindset, resembled two grizzled, slender hands clutching a burning cane._

"…_No." Heero said, and walked out, not caring a whit about his professor's outraged squawk as the door slammed shut behind him._

"After I finished my bachelor's in art in about a year and a half, I got slightly…less cautious."

"Suicidal, you mean?" Duo asked ruthlessly, and Heero flinched.

"…Possibly." He paused. "Reckless would probably fit better. Since I was only thirteen and only had a bachelor's, I got into the masters program at my college. The physics masters program, to be precise. I almost didn't get in because of my bachelors degree.

"But, Zechs pulled some strings. Or, at least he said he did it. I knew better when I turned fourteen, when I was almost done with the requirements for my degree. That's when I met Lucrezia Noin the second time, and got my first face-to-face meeting with a man named Treize Khushrenada.

__

"Ah, Mr. Yuy," a cultured voice called out, and Heero found himself looking at quite possibly the most regal man on the planet. Even in semi-casual attire, he looked like some sort of political leader, his very being oozing out charisma.

_Heero wanted to hate him. Really. But somehow, it just seemed to slide away._

"_Please, sit," the man gestured at the table, and Heero dropped down into the corner seat, not missing both the facts that Khushrenada had left it for him and that the man knew exactly what the motion meant._

_I don't trust you. Better safe than sorry._

"_My name, as you most likely know, is Treize Khushrenada," the man began, and Heero didn't doubt that his voice could charm the silverware into a ballet if he wanted. "And, as the intelligent man you are, I'm sure you know what we want in return."_

_The first time anyone had called him a man. And like hell was he going to be charmed into complacency. _

"_I don't know what you want," Heero said. "But I appreciate what you've helped me with." And there was no we, that much was certain. A man like Khushrenada couldn't possibly accept the rule of another over them._

"_It was a worthwhile investment," Treize smiled. "I hear you're about to set another record for the time it takes to get a degree."_

_Smalltalk. Oh, how he hated smalltalk. "It would have already been finished, if not for certain events." Like Treize murdering J, the bastard. His hand twitched._

_Treize sighed. "Please, don't bother reaching for the gun," he said tiredly. "I had nothing to do with Dr. J's death. I was merely interested in some of his inventions." The man paused. "One especially."_

"_When the house went up, so did everything else," Heero snapped. "If you're looking for an invention, you're wasting your time. The only thing that didn't go up in fire and smoke was me."_

_The man's blue eyes glinted in the dim light._

"_Precisely, Mr. Yuy."_

"Treize Khushrenada runs a corporation known simply as OZ incorporated. They do a little bit of everything, but their biggest moneymaker is arms dealing. To be more specific, chemical warfare."

"Which, last I heard, was very, very illegal," Duo noted. "And very, very deadly."

Heero nodded. "Very true. Which is why I grabbed my degree and ran from one university to another, working on my chemistry PhD so I'd finally have the qualifications to find somewhere decently safe, get a grant, and barricade myself in a lab to finish Dr. J's legacy.

"Of course, OZ, inc. ran after me. Which is why I learned how to fight and shoot a gun, old experiences with high school bullies notwithstanding."

Duo snickered.

"What?" Heero frowned.

"It's just a funny mental picture, I guess," he smirked. "A little eleven-year-old Heero Yuy crossing the stage at graduation and getting the snot beat out of him when he gets to the other side." Again, Duo let out a chuckle, then a sigh. "So, that's how you ended up in Saparta?"

"…again, Zechs interfered," Heero frowned. "But this time, I didn't know it was him. Zechs' real last name, as I remember telling you, is Peacecraft. The same as Relena. And the same as the Dean of Saparta University, a year ago."

__

"I'm so pleased you received our letter, Dr. Yuy," Dean Peacecraft smiled honestly at him. "We were concerned, considering how much you move around. Will you still be traveling around during your stay here at Saparta?"

"_I don't plan to, no," the sixteen-year-old Heero Yuy stated. But, nowadays, he wasn't ruling anything out. _

"_And I'm very excited to see this equation of yours, as well," the Dean beamed at him excitedly, and Heero froze in the middle of the hall._

"…_What?"_

_The dean blinked at him, then laughed. "Why, your equation, of course! My son said it was your life's work, that you needed to settle down to finish it. A simply groundbreaking find, I assume?"_

_Heero was not an idiot. He distinctly recalled the fact he hadn't mentioned the equation to anyone ever since that cursed plane ride, and probably not even then. _

_It clicked. Dean PEACECRAFT. Milliardo PEACECRAFT._

_He had walked straight into their trap, and the only way to get out was if one of them died._

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA," Duo shouted out, waving his hands. "What do you mean, DIED?"

"I mean that either I had to die to keep the equation out of OZ, inc and every other pursuer's hands, or I had to kill the dean and pray he hadn't mentioned what it really was to anyone else," Heero stated coldly. "It…again, it was not one of my better decisions. Suicide would have been a far better choice, as I look back on it."

And Duo could only stare at Heero's face as he began to speak again.

__

It was raining again, which suited the boy perfectly. A slippery road would make it all the more easy.

_Now all he had to do was wait for the dean to drive home. The man was already twenty minutes late. _

_He wondered if Mr. Peacecraft's legitimate family would break down. He wondered if he'd ever be able to look Relena in the eyes again. He wondered if it would hurt that bastard Zechs at all, to know his father had died, and if he'd ever find out Heero arranged it all._

_What he didn't wonder was if it was worth it. Keeping the equation away from them was important enough, but if they ever actually managed to solve it, if OZ managed to produce it…the world would be held hostage and quickly under corporate control, in every sense of the word._

_And there it was- blue Bentley, driving at a safe speed for the conditions, windshield wipers keeping the front's view pristine. Dean Peacecraft was an excellent driver._

_With a shudder and a wince, Heero pulled out the tiny trigger from his pocket, and pressed the trigger in._

_The car lurched to life, as if Mr. Peacecraft had suddenly floored it. The tires skidded, losing their grip on the road, and the car began to skid, still speeding up. _

_With the last bit of control the steering wheel could give, Mr. Peacecraft's car smashed headfirst into the jaggedly hewn wall of the hill. _

"_FUCK," Heero hissed out. He was supposed to be like any normal human and try to avoid a blatantly deadly collision, since then Heero could get the engine back to looking mildly normal (aside from totaled) and none would be the wiser. Why the hell did the dean think the back of his car was more important than his own life?_

_It was when the first wail broke out of the back seat, when a young lady with reddened blonde-brown hair climbed out of the car and fell onto her knees, the rain washing blood both deeper into her and off onto the street, that Heero realized he had killed two people, not one._

"…shit," Duo muttered.

"I murdered Dean Peacecraft and his wife in cold blood, and shattered Relena's mental status. All in one night," Heero whispered. "…she was my first real friend. And I broke her, after knowing her for one fucking month." He laughed, a bitter, harsh sound that made Duo flinch. "It took her a couple weeks to go completely insane, though."

Duo wanted to say it would be okay. He wanted to say something comforting, something that would reassure Heero that he wasn't the only one with skeletons in the closet, that he wasn't the only human who'd fucked their life up in a spectacular burst of paranoid idiocy, that Duo himself wasn't much better.

But how the hell do you find the words to say that? To say it was a mistake, even though Heero meant to kill Dean Peacecraft anyway? How the fuck could Duo tell him it was okay that he'd killed two people so well that nobody suspected?

Instead, he was silent.

The rustle of leaves in the wind and Heero's breaking, frantic laughter was all the sound he needed.

x---x

A/N: …wow.

…I think that's about all I have to say about that.

I have a website now, so if you wanna see it, it's on my profile page. I've got Prodigy up all prettified, along with lots of other fanfic and some original stuff that eats my brain like Hannibal after lent. (…I was missing my puns this chapter, okay?) I'm not done with it yet, but…it's there! Huzzah!

ALSO! Sorry if I didn't reply to your review! I'm lazy as all getup, as you probably know, so…I kind of give up after a week. Believe me, though, I LOVED your review, and I'll probably get back to you this time! YAY!

Thanks for reading, feel free to review! (It really DOES make me update faster, believe it or not…)


	16. Trust

The author would like to note her penname is Luchia**13 **because that's actually where the plot starts to, you know, make sense and stuff. And when background just floods the story and everything comes together into one big plot with lots o' characters and explosions and sex and stuff you love it okay go.

**WARNINGS:** I NEVER UPDATE. I'm TRYING, I swear, but…seriously. We're going on…good god, two years. I either deserve a flogging or a cookie. Also, be ready to hate me some more, because apparently I find my characters' tears pretty. And, uh, the usual. OH! Duo's CRAZY. And Quatre's SCARY. And Heero's a SAP, the adorable woobie.

Where we last left our heroes (because WOW Prodigy's long and I never update and you shouldn't have to reread all that): Wufei, being Duo's absolute bitch, has been playing guard dog to Trowa and Quatre in the hospital. After being shot protecting Quatre from (GASP!) ExplosiveSpy!Hilde, Trowa had an artsy nightmare which revealed he had a sister, but she's dead, leading to being emo. Quatre, as the adorably dangerous bastard he is, demanded a background check on Trowa's past behind his back. Duo got guilted into FINALLY going to class, and Heero tagged along. They made out, got in a fight, and made out more, and then went to the middle of nowhere so Heero could divulge his Haunting Angsty Past and why the fuck Relena's such a crack whore. Oh, and Relena's got some _weird_ brain shit going on but is in fact cool. And somewhere in there's a super-explosive named Nightfire and OZ, inc and people trying to kill them and stuff, but hey, let's face it, we're just here for the sexual tension and SMUT.

Prodigy

Chapter 14

Trust

Wufei Chang found himself staring out the window.

There wasn't really anything to see- a parking lot took up most of the view, half-full as expected at 10 PM at an inpatient clinic. He would have asked Trowa why the fuck they got to stay, but Wufei wasn't stupid enough to wake up a pissed-off gay millionaire's mortally wounded boyfriend. Especially with said pissed-off gay millionaire right next to him, the happy couple cuddling on the hospital bed in ways that were NOT making him jealous. So he was silent and brooded as he stared out at dark cars on dark, cracking asphalt, waiting for the OTHER happy couple to come barreling through the door and bickering like the idiots they were.

But it was 10 PM. And they hadn't shown up.

While Wufei hadn't ever really attended high school (he was tutored until he 'graduated' at fifteen), he was pretty damn sure school hours didn't extend past 8 PM, at the very latest.

…and no, he WAS NOT worried about them.

Or Duo's virtue (if it had even existed in the first place).

Not one bit.

_**RREEDDLE REEDDLE RRRRRING!**_

"The FUCK-!" Wufei jerked upright at the noise, hand reaching for a gun right along with Quatre, _and_ Trowa, interestingly enough. But unlike the other two in the room, Quatre's hand actually latched onto something and pulled out a cell phone. Shit, he hated those things…

"Yes?" Quatre stated into the phone, sending an apologetic smile at Trowa and a sheepish one to Wufei. "Ah! I'm glad to hear from you so soon!"

Nope, not them.

Quatre walked out the door with another reluctant smile towards Trowa, and shut the door firmly behind him.

"Talk," Quatre's business voice snapped out sharply.

"I did the background check for you, and…it's definitely weird," the man's deep voice said, obviously reluctant. "Sir, I think maybe you should avoid this guy-"

"Enough." He knew he was glaring at a wall, but didn't much care. "Define weird."

"Catherine Barton doesn't exist." A pause. "And neither does Trowa Barton."

The cell phone dropped to the tile, shattering.

x---x

"Stop it."

"I don't think pizza's gonna be enough to apologize for being this late, do you? I mean, I know Quatre's all about the Hawaiian Pineapple pizza and would kill for it, but I don't know about Wufei – he seems like the sausage type though, wouldn't you say? But Trowa-"

"STOP IT."

"- I don't think he's really ready for solid foods, would you? I mean, yeah, his jaw didn't get shot but still with all that medicine he's gotta be as sick as a panda on a mountain slip and slide. Fuck, I don't think I'd even be able to TAKE the smell of food-"

"DUO!"

Silence devoured the car. Exits and lights and trucks blurred across the windows, flashes of movement against the hazy night sky. Duo stared out the windshield, and Heero stared at Duo, lips dangerously close to shaking.

"What the hell do you want me to say, Heero?" Duo finally asked, voice eerily smooth. "Do you want me to scream at you? Maybe laugh it off? Maybe you want me to hate you, blame you, make you feel even shittier?"

Heero didn't say a word.

"ANSWER ME," Duo shouted. "What the FUCK are you looking for from me right now!"

"I don't know," Heero snapped back.

"LIKE FUCK YOU DON'T-"

"Tell me, then," Heero sneered. "I told you the truth, didn't I? So what do you think? Do you really SEE?"

Duo found himself laughing bitterly, wishing he'd bothered to turn the radio on. Angry music tended to soothe him, ironically.

"Oh, I see, Heero." Duo was grinning now, the car speeding up. "I see PLENTY. And you want to know what I think, is that it?" A van honked frantically as they swerved past it, parallel to a semi with a chipper calculator with a clever slogan painted onto the side. "I think you're just as fucked up as me."

Heero was eerily still, like some elegant ice sculpture propped against his passenger seat.

"I can't say a damn thing without being a hypocrite." The semi grew smaller in the rear-view mirror. "I don't pity you." More speed. "I don't HATE you." The traffic was getting worse, but the car just kept going and going, racing over black and white, practically flying over pavement and paint.

"Duo-" Heero said quickly, and Duo swerved, avoiding a head-on collision with a cement truck.

"I CAN'T hate you." Funny, how Heero seemed to be clutching at his seat. It was the first time Duo had ever seen him even remotely scared. "And you know why? Do you know why the FUCK I can't hate you, can't blame you, can't even fear you?"

Duo's eyes latched on to Heero's.

"Because we're exactly the same."

He let go of the wheel.

x---x

_Well then. Might as well get out of this rain, eh?_

_You need to eat something. And my sister's an excellent cook._

_My son._

_Yuy._

_You really shouldn't be worth this._

_I'm proud of you, Heero. Not just what you've done, but what I know you can do. Will do._

_You followed me._

_Did you hear his poem, Heero? Listen to it when you get the chance._

_Love ya, and have a good day!_

A face through the smoke and the fire, ashen and singed and always, always breathtaking

_Oh, I see, Heero. I think you're just as fucked up as me. Because we're exactly the same._

Exactly the same.

x---x

Heero grabbed the wheel, wrenching it to the side and up an exit as the hectic horns blurred and warbled around them, steering the car through the traffic as the sedan began to slow, whether from the incline or Duo pushing on the break he didn't know, and slowly, slowly, the world stopped blurring in front of him, and he could see the buildings and the cars and even the occasional people on the sidewalks, but most of all he could see Duo Maxwell's brilliant, glorious, true smile, aimed straight at him.

They weren't the same.

Because nothing could rival Duo.

He wanted to say something. He didn't know what it was, but it was something very important that he felt down to his soul, if not deeper, but then Duo put his hands back on the wheel, one over Heero's, and the car stopped, perfectly centered between the yellow lines.

He wanted to say it. But he didn't know what it was.

So instead he meshed his fingers with Duo's and leaned over the console, sealing their lips together as his other hand dropped from the steering wheel and threaded itself into Duo's braid at the base of his neck, drawing him deeper in.

He didn't know what he wanted to say. But from the way Duo was smiling, that had been enough.

x---x

When Quatre walked back through the door, it didn't look much like Quatre anymore.

Cold, calculating blue eyes latched onto Trowa, not even sparing a glance at Wufei.

"Chang, get out," Quatre stated. "Go wait for Duo and Heero in the lobby."

Wufei wasn't an idiot. He left.

Trowa simply looked at him, those honest eyes that were gnawing at Quatre, because Trowa was a LIAR. He wasn't even Trowa. Quatre didn't know him. He knew nothing.

That was about to change.

"Who are you?" Quatre hissed out, and Trowa was too smart to underestimate Quatre – or at least he THOUGHT, but he didn't really KNOW Trowa, did he? – but he still looked confused. Maybe it was the drugs, since Allah knows Quatre had paid for the best he could get pumped into this fraud, this FAKE that pretended to care, who didn't care enough to even say his real name.

Who didn't even trust him.

"I'm someone who cares about you," Trowa finally said., those painfully beautiful green eyes still brutally SINCERE. "And someone who thought you could wait at least a month before doing a background check."

Oh, that was RICH. "Oh, forgive me for not letting you deceive me for another couple weeks-"

"Quatre, I was going to tell you-"

"WHEN!" Quatre shouted out, his fist crashing down onto the tall plastic table. The pitcher and cup of water jumped, crashing to the ground in a wet mess that neither of them even noticed.

"I told you everything about me," Quatre hissed out. "EVERYTHING. And you won't even give me your NAME."

"It IS Trowa Barton, now," he said, eerily quiet. "I will live, and probably die, by the name Trowa Barton. I am, in every way, Trowa Barton." A hurt crept into his face. "All that Triton Bloom had was a past."

"And you don't need a past, is that it?" Quatre asked. "What are you running from?"

"Not from," Trowa Barton said simply. "Toward." He looked out the window, at the twilight city that stretched out beyond. "And hopefully with you."

Quatre didn't have an answer for that, and knew he couldn't stand in front of the bed for much longer without hurting himself or losing it, so he walked back out the door and knelt next to his shattered cell phone, slowly picking up the pieces one by one.

x----x

x----x

A/N: Quatre, you IDIOT…(shakes head) But I think this actually may be my favorite chapter to date. Rock on. And yay for hyper-mega-symbolism.

FYI- I'm now ravenously addicted to Saiyuki and Hellsing (Integra/Alucard OWNS MY SOUL) so expect me to write that TOO but hopefully I'll just be sticking to oneshots like I'm trying to.

THANKS FOR READING! FEEL FREE TO REVIEW! (especially WAY later than I update so then I'll remember to write/post and yay that makes me haaapppyyyy)

…and holy SHIT, I have 300 reviews…how the HELL do that many people...

Wow. Alright, you guys are getting loved on like whoa. Seriously.

OKAY! WHICH ONE YOU WANT:  
1. SMUT! (pairing goes here)  
2. FIGHT/BATTLE! (person getting ass kicked goes here)  
3. BACKGROUND! (aka WTF IS THIS SHIT? EXPLAIN, WOMAN!)  
4. SOMETHING ELSE!

Seriously, if you ask for Dr. J and Trowa to have a June wedding, I will DO it. You guys are THAT AWESOME OMG.

And you know what? If you want me to write you a drabble or random smut, I will. Seriously. Just comment and request on my livejournal and I am THERE, baby. And I'll even make a post for it! (Offer PROBABLY ends April 18th because WOW this could get messy) Any fandom (that I know…), any pairing (unless it's…creepy. And yes, I WILL write het, gaspshock), so long as you don't expect, you know, ANOTHER epic. Hah.


	17. Allegiance Ascertained

A/N: The only promise I promise is to promise to never promise anything about this fic. EVER. AGAIN. This was inexcusable, and I apologize, but…yeah. I'm really, really busy nowadays.

WARNINGS: Again, updates are slow as glaciers. Full-time job + full time student me right now, so…yeah.

Prodigy

Chapter 15

Allegiance Ascertained

"- it can't hurt," Duo's voice echoed through the sliding doors, grinning at Heero as they entered the hospital, each holding two enormous pizza boxes. "Well, can't hurt ME, at least. But you're a doctor professory guy, so you make the big bucks, right?"

"Don't make me shoot you," Heero stated.

"Try it, Pyro," Duo countered, then frowned. "But don't hurt the pizza."

"It's about time you got back," Wufei griped from a nearby armchair, face hidden behind a newspaper. He joined them on their walk, face still hidden until they stepped into the elevator. He snapped the newspaper shut with a crack, seams perfect as he folded it under his arm. "Winner's locked himself in a conference room, and Trowa's been catatonic for the past half hour since."

"Well, shit," Duo stated, pressing their floor's button with his hip. "So, 'Fei, what do you think of sausage pizza?"

Wufei snorted. "Decent. I prefer anchovies, but sausage is passable."

Duo grinned smugly at Heero, who frowned, pulled ten bucks out of a pocket, and stuffed it into a bit of his braid. "Well, now that THAT's settled, what the hell did you do to them, you bastard?"

"NOTHING," Wufei snapped. The elevator chimed, and the doors parted. "They fucked their relationship all by themselves."

"And we're to trust you?" Heero asked as they strode down the corridor, scowling at the spy.

"Heero, he hasn't done anything bad other than piss us off repeatedly," Duo defended…well, kind of. "And what the hell would the point be in telling us the Golden Couple had their first tiff?"

"Lower our guard and make us expect a single figure in bed in Barton's hospital room through manipulating our sympathy."

Duo stared at him. "How the fuck do you get through a day without killing people?"

Heero smirked. "Practice."

"And pills?" Duo suggested.

"DOOR! DOOR! WATCH THE FUCKING DOOR!" Wufei shouted, pointing to the opening door Duo nearly smacked into before Wufei yanked his braid back. Two pizza boxes went tumbling to the floor.

A woman with brown eyes and brown hair in a well-cut periwinkle suit blinked at them from the now-open doorway. "Excuse me," she said, voice cool and collected, and walked down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Bitch," Duo muttered, scowling, as he picked up the pizza boxes, hoping they were salvageable. Heero was smirking mercilessly at him. "Shut up, Corpse Boy! You'd have dropped them too!" Mustering his remaining dignity, Duo opened the heavy wood door to Trowa Barton's room.

The occupant was staring at nothing, face turned towards the city lights that glinted off his window, still as a statue and looking just as hard to move, eyes half-lidded and empty.

"Wow. You weren't kidding about the catatonic thing, were you, 'Fei?" Duo frowned, setting the ruined pizza down on Trowa's bedside table. "Shit, he almost looks _dead_."

"He's still breathing," Heero noted. "He'll be fine."

"Well yeah, but…man, that's just creepy. How long ago did you say this happened?" Duo asked, turning back to look at Wufei.

Wufei still stood in the doorway, shoulders tense and face hard, eyes wary on the hallway.

"You need to leave," he said simply. "Grab Trowa, go get Quatre, and leave. Now."

Duo stared at the spy. "What the hell are you talking about?"

For just a moment, Wufei let his eyes snap over to glare at Duo, then flick over to where Heero stood. "Yuy, get him out of here."

The scientist didn't even blink, just nodded and moved toward Trowa. "How long do we have?"

"Twenty minutes, tops."

"Understood," Heero stated, and ripped the IV out of Trowa's arm. The statue didn't even move, didn't even flinch.

Duo frowned, his previous mental agenda of 'what fuckitry is this?' being replaced by realizing something was very, very wrong with Trowa Barton.

"Don't move him," Duo called out, just before Heero started to fireman carry his friend out of the room. He frowned, pulling the money he'd earned out of his braid and carefully drew a line down the edge of Trowa's arm. When Trowa didn't move, Duo frowned and pulled a knife out of his sock.

"…how many of those do you have on you?" Wufei asked.

"Not enough," Duo muttered, and, with a look up at Heero, cut a small slash into Trowa's arm.

Trowa didn't even blink.

"Shit," Duo hissed, grabbing the bandages Heero already had ready and quickly stemming the bleeding.

"He's drugged," Heero said, already moving towards the trashcan, quickly pulling out any and all medicinal containers he could find.

"We don't know what it's done to him," Duo sighed, getting more and more pissed off as the situation worsened. "And why the hell do we even have to run?"

"That woman," Wufei said, voice slightly hoarse. "The woman in periwinkle." He frowned. "I've seen her before, and everywhere she goes, so does OZ."

"Well, hey. At least I knew she was a bitch right off," Duo said, laughing as he cleaned up his knife and resheathed it. "We can't just pick Trowa up and move him, because we don't know what they gave him."

"…shit," Heero hissed out, an empty, label-less glass syringe in his hand.

"Be a bit more informative, Yuy," Wufei snapped out, looking like he'd shoot anything that touched him at this point.

"This is the only syringe we didn't know he was prescribed," Heero said, looking intently at the needle. "What we do know is it's in glass, not plastic, which probably means the drug can eat through plastic."

"…which is kinda bad," Duo said lightly.

"Very, very bad," Heero agreed, which probably meant they were all going to die right there.

"Well. Uh. I guess I'll go get Quatre and we'll barricade the room then," Duo said.

"Too late," Wufei muttered, and the world went to hell.

x---x

Wufei Chang had always belonged to someone else's cause. He was a weapon, not a wielder, and although he had a heart, a mind, a spirit, maybe even a soul, he was still in need of a direction, still needed guidance. Purpose.

And then he had met Duo Maxwell, and the world as he'd known it, the simple and easy world of a weapon, had gone to hell.

x---x

"SHIT!" Duo shouted out as the first shot hit the hospital room's door, grabbing Wufei by the ponytail and wrenching him back toward himself and Heero as quickly as possible. The second and third shots followed quickly after, both ripping through the fake wood of the door and shattering the windowpane, glass flying everywhere. "Oh, SHIT!"

"Did you see how many there are?" Heero asked Wufei, already with his weapon out and snapping the safety off with an ominous snap.

"Four, I think," Wufei said, raking his brain as the fourth, fifth, sixth shots came, all localized around the lock of the door, as if he'd had the time to lock it. "I could be wrong, though."

"You're a spy and you can't think under pressure!" Duo hissed, already pulling out knife after knife from his ensemble.

"And you're a high school student with a fucking ARMORY in your SOCKS!" Wufei snapped. "I was busy closing the door!"

"I can't take out four armed shooters in here," Heero frowned, pulling at his own pant leg to reveal an arsenal of explosives.

"Shit, I'm going to have nightmares about _socks_ now!" Wufei shouted out, staring as they stripped down their foot coverings to reveal metal and mines. "Insane pyromaniacs with socks of death and too much duct tape and too little common sense!"

"Better safe than sorry," Heero said simply, looking a bit too dreamily at a small red tube.

"Oooooh, is that what I think it is?" Duo said, grinning viciously.

"I think it might be," Heero said, just a tad bit smug as the seventeenth through twenty-first bullets went whizzing through the room.

"You're all fucking insane," Wufei stared, desperately wishing he had more than just his pistol on him. Preferably something long, sharp and stabby.

"Aww, come on, 'Fei. Where's the _love_?"

"Nowhere near you and your socks, that's for sure," Wufei seethed, clutching his pistol and trying very hard to not crack the bastard upside the head with it.

But after the thirtieth bullet, everything stopped.

x---x

He can't remember all that much of his life before Nataku. Considering she was more or less his life, he doesn't much care.

She had been air and fire, thunder and lightning, passion and perseverance. She had been bratty, abrasive, and beautiful, and best of all, _his_.

Her life had been his life. His education had been her education, his daily exercises and lessons and memory improvement techniques had been hers. Despite what they wanted, what they dictated, he didn't care.

The spy and the maid. The rich and the poor. The man and the woman.

But after one bullet, one tiny, simple bullet, everything stopped.

x---x

"Chang!"

Duo frowned at the splintered door. "…what the hell do they want _now_?"

"Chang Wufei!"

"I think they're looking for Wufei," Heero said.

"Damn, that's insightful," Duo rolled his eyes. "I'm glad a PhD like you's around, Heero, I can barely hear myself think over the guy shouting 'Fei's name."

"Would you two stop joking and realize they are trying to kill you!" Wufei hissed at them, eyes wide and forehead twitching with the urge to strangle them.

"Eh," Duo shrugged casually. "We're used to it." He turned back to Heero, who was working the vial out from under his sock. "How long 'till you're ready to blow up the hall?"

Heero paused for a moment, obviously thinking hard about his response. "About forty seconds."

"Chang Wufei, tell your captors we have their comrade as a hostage."

Duo frowned, working at his sleeve to pull another knife out. "Was it just me or was that voice different?"

Neither of the boys responded, too busy looking very serious and very pale.

"I am offering a straight trade – the young Mister Winner for Chang," that same voice said. It was smooth and commanding, and the man who owned it was apparently nothing to scoff at, judging from the other two's reactions. "Our only goal this evening is the return of our ally. When the trade is completed, we'll leave the hospital in peace."

"Can we trust this guy?" Duo asked.

"…Yes," Wufei said, strangely impassive as he stood up, gaze flicking to Heero. "Take care of him, Yuy."

Heero nodded. Duo glared.

"Why does everyone think I'm the only one that needs to—'FEI!" Duo shouted, lurching to his feet as Wufei walked toward the door, only for Heero's iron grip pull him back down and gently but firmly hold him there.

"Because, Duo," he said, not even looking back. "We care about you."

"WUFEI!" Duo shouted. "We can figure out another way to get Quatre back from them! We can take these guys, we can escape, we can run, we can…we can…"

He didn't even wave, just walked out the doorway with a purposeful stride like the devil was at his heels.

x---x

When Nataku died, he'd given up on everything. Dreams of justice and honor and integrity had fizzled away with her shocked face.

After that, Wufei devoted his life to others' grand devotions and dreams, and he was good at it. He became rock and rain, distance and brutality, with no allegiance to anything but a cold tombstone he hadn't seen in four years.

It was only when he truly saw the man that Duo Maxwell was, and the deeper qualities of Heero Yuy, and the truth of a liar like Trowa Barton, and the gentle, caring cruelty of Quatre Winner, that the bitterly cold ghost of Meiran walked out of his heart and soul.

It didn't even wave, just walked out the doorway with a purposeful stride like the devil was at its heels.

And, with his allegiance finally ascertained, Wufei Chang became more than a spy, or a weapon, or a devotee. What it was, he didn't know yet, but it was strong and true and something he'd been searching for since he couldn't even remember when.

And finally, he remembered his dead dreams.

x---x

When Quatre, face bruised and eyes glaring at the world, walked through the door a minute later, he blinked at the sight of a catatonic Trowa, a distant Heero, and Duo Maxwell looking ready to bring down the apocalypse on OZ, inc.

"It's time to stop running," Quatre said, voice icily quiet. "It's time we take the fight to them, and finish this once and for all."

"There's fi…there's four of us, and a skyscraper full of them," Heero said, gazing out the shattered window.

"Four of us, yes," Quatre countered. "One of which has limitless funding and expert combat training, another of which is a genius and mastermind of mischief, another the leading scientist in the field of explosives and deadly efficient in a fight, and one of which is…well, I'm still trying to figure out what he is, but I'm betting it's just as dangerous as the rest of us."

"I'm in," Duo spoke up. "Even if it were suicide, I'd be in."

"It is suicide," Heero said. "They have Wufei now, which means they'll know what we look like, what we think like, where we live, work, go to school-"

"Then there's not even a point in running and hiding anyway," Quatre snapped. "Like you said, they know who we are and where we are. We either take the fight to them, or we die."

"Or we take the fight to them AND die," Duo added, chipper. "Either way, sounds like a hell of a time. So! When we getting 'Fei back?"

x---x

The limo swerved easily through traffic, its occupants barely moving across the leather seats. Cars flashed across the windows, and Treize Khushrenada poured another, smaller, glass of wine for Wufei.

"I trust you still prefer red to white?" he asked, smiling and caring as Wufei took the glass and sipped from it, not even considering there was a drug in it. If there was one thing Khushrenada could be trusted on, it was that he always took care of those under him. "Or has that changed during your captivity?"

"The only thing that's changed is my perception of duct tape," Wufei growled, drinking a bit more. "They left me duct taped to a chair, which was taped to the refrigerator door, and left me blindfolded." He made a disgusted noise. "I'd almost have preferred death."

"I would most certainly not have preferred you dead," Treize frowned at the thought. "But truly, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Wufei sighed, downing the rest of his wine and reminding himself that really, he was just fine with the spacious, comfortable limousine playing nice classical music and didn't miss rotting cloth seats and a screaming driver competing with pounding classic rock. "What did I miss?"

"I assume you know of our arsonist's little miscalculation."

"The one that nearly killed me and left me the captive of a crazy man?" Wufei growled. "Oh, I know of it."

"I've been waiting for your return to choose her punishment," Treize said smoothly, almost lazily. "It seemed only fair."

The arsonist who had not only nearly killed himself, but also Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy. The arsonist who had shot Trowa Barton and betrayed Quatre Winner, not to mention Duo.

"Thank you," he said darkly to the man sitting next to him. "I'll be sure she gets a just punishment."

"I'm sure you will," Treize said, a hand cautiously brushing against Wufei's cheek. "…I must admit, I missed your unique outlook on the world."

"That makes two of us," Wufei muttered, and poured himself another drink. He had a feeling he'd need it.

x---x

x---x

A/N: Aaaaaand that's the long-awaited Ch. 15! Hope you enjoyed!


	18. Like Heroes Dread

A/N: Nope, not dead just yet. Let's hope I stay that way.

WARNINGS: SOOOOOOO SLOW OF UPDATING. I'm sorry but I am addicted to Naruto. Also, for some reason Heero has turned into Ricky Ricardo.

Previously In Prodigy (because Prodigy's long and I DON'T UPDATE):

_In the WHOLE FRIGGIN' STORY:_ Heero (and, by bizarre "luck", Duo) know how to make a super-explosive called Nightfire that OZ, inc. really, REALLY wants, thus sending (a) a spy (see: Wuffles), and then (b) a bomb specialist (see: Hilde), and then (c) an agent (see: Noin) to try and get it. Quatre's dad is a cartel drug lord, and Trowa is a JAR FULL OF MYSTERY SOUP. Wufei is utterly Duo's bitch after he got duct taped to the fridge door and scared shitless by Duo getting ANGRY post-explosion, Heero is madly in love with Duo, Duo is also a mystery soup but with extra stained glass enigma, and Quatre just wants his boyfriend to stop LYING, dammit!, and Relena is…very much an enigma at this point as well! Anyway. Everyone else is either (a) not yet introduced, or (b) EVIL! Or, you know, (c) Dead-and-or-not-appearing-in-this-fanfic.

_In JUST the last chapter(s):_ After a dangerous encounter with OZ, inc in the hospital which exchanged "hostages" (Wufei for Quatre) and left Trowa dangerously comatose, Duo is chomping at the bit to get Wufei back, and the only thing keeping him from running after his friend is Heero, who swore to "take care" of Duo for Wufei. Quatre, however, seems to be on Duo's 'charge in, get Wufei back, and fuck them all' platform after being roughed up and seeing what they did to his catatonic boyfriend-but-not-because-he-is-a-LIAR-angst-emo-woe. The three conscious kids have decided to finally stop running and take the fight to OZ, and Treize totally has a crush on 'Fei.

Oh, and pretty much everyone is gay. Yaaaaaaaaay gay.

Prodigy

Chapter 16

Like Heroes Dread

It usually takes people a while to enter the wreckage that comes after a massive shootout. That while can generally be considered the 'life preserver' period, usually somewhere around 75 of the time the actual fight lasted. It's during this time that people assess if the shootout is really over, if it's safe to venture forth and stare at the refuse left behind, be it broken bottles or mutilated bodies.

In this case, the hospital hallway was left eerily silent for nearly ten minutes, and by the time a nurse tiptoed her shaky way into the ripped apart hospital room, the only things left inside were a wall of torn cables and a bill that stated quite apologetically that all repair bills should be forwarded to Winner Enterprises, using specific enough terminology that the hospital could get nothing but the money for repairs, the signature beneath ensuring that the company couldn't get out of it.

While the nurse stared out the shattered window, she failed to notice the hurrying figures of three young men pushing a gurney through the parking lot, one catatonic young man staring blankly at the sky as they shoved him across the asphalt.

"Damn it, if we could just use my car we could dump him in the trunk and steal a van in a theater parking lot or something," Duo groaned as they avoided another island of foliage in the sea of pavement.

"Car bombs are very easy to put in, and your car's been caught on at least one security video showing us involved with the vehicle," Heero stated. It was probably the fifth time he'd explained why they couldn't just go rambling around in Duo's old car.

"Not to mention your apartment," Quatre added. Probably the third time, at least.

"What do you think I am, a fucking goldfish?!" Duo snapped, twisting the gurney toward a big green van. "I GET it, you don't have to tell me over and over again." Without even sparing a glance to either of them, he headed for the driver's side door, handing his area of the gurney over to Quatre.

"Do you think we should leave a note?" Quatre asked, frowning. Duo simply shook his head, putting a hand inside his braid and frowning as he searched the plaits.

"…What are you doing?" Heero asked despite himself, only to receive a wink and a grin as Duo pulled a thin strand of metal from somewhere near the end of his braid. The teenager twisted the metal sharply and jammed it into the key lock, quickly jimmying it and opening the door, then shutting it behind him, all within about four seconds.

Quatre politely moved Heero's jaw back up to where it normally was, trying to hide his grin. "I take it this is the first time you've seen Duo in his element?"

"He's a car thief?" Heero frowned, utterly confused. First he was a teenager, then he was a genius, then he was some sort of insane therapist boyfriend, and now…a _car thief_?

"Oi, oi, I heard that," Duo's voice called out, and the sliding side door opened, a bench seat being tossed out along with the words. The heavy thing slammed into the empty space next to it.

"…I'm definitely leaving a note," Quatre sighed to himself.

"I'm not a car thief. I bought my car, thank you very much, and this is…emergency usage without asking, is all!" Duo threw a pile of junk out of the van. "Ooo! Car phone!"

"I need to use that!" Quatre said quickly.

"Gimme a few more seconds, Quat, I wanna be sure we can fit your comatose boyfriend in here," Duo said, only to be followed by a ripping noise and the entire back's upholstery being flung out of the side.

The back of the minivan opened from the inside, and a beaming Duo looked up at them. "I think I missed doing that."

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Heero muttered as they hoisted Trowa carefully into the back, Quatre stepping in to watch over the sleeping boy as Duo stepped out and rounded the car, rolling his eyes as he re-entered the driver's side, Heero taking the passenger seat.

"Awww, Rickyyyy," Duo whined in a high falsetto, sending Quatre into a fit of giggles. "Oh, hey! Right. Here, Q. Phone." He tossed the heavy, mid-90's contraption into Quatre's hands and quickly pulled down the visor of the car, a set of keys falling neatly into his outstretched hand.

"Smooth as cream," he winked at Heero, grinning.

Heero just blinked, his brain busy trying to figure Duo out. Again.

As Duo revved the van's pathetic engine and started tinkering with the radio and controls, Quatre punched in a number he hadn't had to use for a very long time. It picked up on the second ring.

"Po speaking."

"Doctor Po, this is Quatre," he said, not even noticing that he'd started to run his fingers through Trowa's hair. "I have a job for you."

"Well, at the moment, it appears you and every other person in this city has a job for me," the woman sighed. "I can fit you in on, oh…two weeks from today."

"This is urgent," Quatre stated, his business voice slipping in. It earned him a glance from the couple up front, but nothing else. "My friend has been poisoned with something potentially lethal. He saved my life, Doctor, and if your inactivity causes him to die I may have to consider that a debt to repay."

The other line was silent for a good bit of time, until finally the doctor could be heard shuffling across the office. "Meet me in the parking lot at Aquinas and Gibbs, near the market."

"We'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Good," Po said. "I'll be there in fifteen."

---

The building that housed OZ Incorporated's main branch was a bland, thin skyscraper bordered by other equally tall buildings scraped together within the city block. While the others were contemporary masses of glass and concrete, OZ, inc was a blocky mess of glass and iron, a zig-zag pattern in the iron to prevent a collapse in the event of an earthquake.

Not that there had been an earthquake of any seismic relevance in seventy years, Wufei thought grimly as the limo pulled into the underground parking facility. But if there was one thing OZ did well, it was overkill. Or maybe, he thought as his eyes drifted again to the other occupant of the limo, it was merely what the corporation's controller did best.

"Welcome home," Treize said, soft smile seeming vicious through each flickering change of light cast as the vehicle passing under one fluorescent light after another, each making him feel more and more out of place. The older man frowned, obviously seeing something was wrong as his face flashed from perfectly lit and aristocratically concerned to a dark, menacing glow. "Wufei? Are you certain you're feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Wufei said, voice practically a growl as the words _welcome home_ echoed in his head. The light was making his mind fog over, that was all, or maybe it was the graceful halt of the limo as they reached the concrete elevator doors that led into the upper levels of the building, an area no unlucky code-monkey or secretary could possibly shamble into unawares.

Not waiting for the driver to open the door, Wufei pulled the chrome latch and stepped out, taking a deep breath as he did so. Calm, that was the key. He needed to be calm. He needed to relax. This was where he'd belonged and lived just a few weeks ago. This was his home. If he was legitimate enough to file a tax return, it would be listed as his residence.

"…Despite what you may think of me, I can tell something has upset you," Treize said calmly, stepping out of the limo and toward the younger man smoothly. A gentle, unobtrusive hand settled on his shoulder. "Come. I've arranged a present for your return home."

"It better be one hell of a present for what I had to put up with," Wufei muttered.

Treize laughed. It was a sound most thought beautifully twisted and cruel, but Wufei knew better than that. It was the man's self-depreciating laugh, the one that made him want to break the Treize's kneecaps for having such a bizarre mixture of loathing and egotism.

He'd been working for the man for as long as he could remember, and could practically read the other man's mind because of it. To most Treize might have been an enigma, but to the spy he was just another shattered person in the world. You simply had to find the pattern left on the jagged pieces and interpret, and the current interpretation had Wufei shaking his head, eyes set firmly on the dark concrete beneath him.

"It's done," Wufei stated, finally turning back to the owner of OZ, inc. "I'm back."

The smile was more genuine than before, and it was uncomfortable how relieved he was at that. "So you are, Wufei. So you are." He moved toward the elevator, and Wufei followed quickly on his heels, silent and easily switching back into the mask of arrogant indifference he'd worn for nearly five years without a break.

Treize smiled at him again, and this time it really was cruel. "Now, a present for your presence." Gloves were pressed into his hands, and, noting that Treize was already wearing them, he slipped them on, only to frown as his boss pressed the button for P5. The circular light shone a pale blue inside the silvery interior of the elevator. It was a floor he'd never visited before, and had always assumed referred to parking level five. But with that being where they'd just entered from, he found himself suddenly choking on something in his throat, anxiety clenching in his stomach.

The OZ building may have looked like a termite mound sculpted in concrete by an obsessive-compulsive architect, but the interior was state of the art, including the elevators. Within thirty seconds, the cheerful ping of the elevator opened the doors onto a concrete corridor, men placed sporadically throughout the hall, all wearing the security uniform and nodding politely at Treize as they passed by.

Wufei noticed with growing dread that the floor tipped slowly downwards, meaning they were going down. And going down from the specialized OZ elevator could never be a good sign.

They turned down one of the many smaller corridors, and Treize stopped in front of a rather plain door. It looked like a standard inexpensive door, save the slide handle and the guards on either side of the door, both of which nodded and clipped out a quick "Sir" from their stations.

Treize nodded back for once, and turned toward the one on the left side of the door. "Your firearm, please." Without a moment of hesitation, the man unbuckled a pistol from his side and handed it to Treize Khushrenada.

Treize Khushrenada, smile strangely distant, placed the gun in Wufei's hands, and with a single smooth movement opened the door and moved them both inside, leaving the door propped open as he guided Wufei a bit deeper into the pitch-black room with a gentle hand on his lower back. And when the hand slipped aside, the lights flashed on, leaving Wufei staring at a short, bloodied young woman tied to a wooden chair, legs bound together politely, her hands in her lap. It was like some horrific image of a young child caught napping in church, the way her head lolled against the wooden top of the chair, whimpering as the light burned her retinas.

The door crashed shut behind him.

"Chang Wufei, meet your present, Hilde Schbeiker," Treize said casually. "Our resident rebel arsonist, and the reason for your capture. Also claims close acquaintance with Quatre Winner and Duo Maxwell, who-"

"I know who she is," Wufei stated quietly, grip on the pistol finally firming up, his fingers naturally lining themselves up to hold the thing at the ready.

Hilde. Duo's friend. Duo's friend who'd nearly killed him. Him and Duo both, not to mention Heero. Hilde, who had shot Trowa, tried to shoot Quatre, nearly blown them all up. Hilde Schbeiker, who had gone to high school with Duo and Quatre, a woman they'd grown to be very fond of over the years. _But she'd nearly blown them all the fuck up._

His own safety was in jeopardy. And with that safety, the safety of his friends. Treize was watching, that he was certain of. This was as much a present for Treize as for Wufei. Having Treize trust him as he had before was the only way to live long enough to help his friends, who had only become his friends after he himself had nearly killed Heero and Duo…

His hypocricy seemed to grow by the second, Wufei thought, numb, and drew the gun up, aiming straight and true at his target in an arc that it seemed he'd known his entire life.

Hilde Schbeiker managed to rasp a single sentence through worn windpipes and chapped lips, head rising from the back of the chair. Empty eyes met his own equally bleak black.

"_Danken Sie Gott für tod_," she rasped out.

"I don't speak German," Wufei said simply, almost coldly, and fired, the bullet neatly punching between her eyes. He didn't even bother to look, simply turning back to look Treize in the eyes.

A dreadful silence hung in the painfully bright room.

"The old Wufei would have at least questioned her first," Treize said simply.

"Then the old Wufei was a fool." Wufei tossed the gun into his employer's hands, stripping off the gloves and trying to avoid looking at them, for fear of seeing Hilde's blood staining the fabric instead of an almost invisible dusting of gunpowder. He looked straight into Treize's eyes. "There's no truth to be found in a dead woman's word. She knew she was dead long before I ever entered the room."

The older man simply inclined his head, his own way of acknowledging truth without wasting words. The room had developed the eerie silence of a morgue, and neither seemed inclined to break it. Maybe that was the reason Treize hesitated over his next inquiry. "And her blood, then? Why bother to kill a woman already dead?"

Telling the truth would have gotten him killed. Telling Khushrenada that he'd pitied her, that he'd watched her beg for death as he came in through the door, was just about the same as painting a bright red target on his shirt and running through a shooting range. So he turned back toward the door.

"There's no more truth in blood than anything she would have said." Wufei paused, letting a cruel smile slowly seep onto his mouth, and glanced back. "But sometimes blood is more satisfying than truth."

He didn't dare turn back as he walked out the door, terrified that Treize would see how pale his face was outside of the blaring light of Hilde Schbeiker's newly christened tomb.

---

Dr. Sally Po was not a certified doctor. A certified acupuncturist, yes, but not a certified doctor, due to her way through medical school being paid by a now disbanded group of illicit businessmen who found it in their interest to have a indebted doctor and surgeon on their bankroll.

But when they went belly-up, Sally was free to pursue any path she chose, so long as it didn't involve the police. She chose the life of the freelance under-the-table doctor, a life where she could charge whatever the hell she wanted and usually got it, since it was either paying her or facing the wrath of those who'd had urgent appointments that you had personally cancelled.

There were only a few people which she didn't wring money from like water from a wet rag. Quatre Winner was one of those people. And that was why she was standing in the designated parking lot and waiting an extra ten minutes for the young man and his patient to roll up to her pristine, unmarked white van. For most people, she'd have already moved on, for fear of a government ambush, but Quatre was different.

In fact, Quatre was usually nice and polite to her – a rarity in her line of work. And when a boy like that started making threats, she knew he had to be clinging to the edge of normality with nothing but fingernails. Considering he was the son of a billion-dollar drug lord, normality was a strange creature in the first place, so whatever could send him teetering over the edge had to be incredible.

_Curiosity may have killed the cat_, Sally thought to herself, _but at least it died satisfied_.

A moment later, a green mini-van screeched into the parking lot, spinning itself around to put its tailgate at her makeshift ambulance's back. The vehicle rocked like a boat in a storm, but the driver didn't seem to notice much, grinning as he cranked the parking break into place and threw himself out the driver's side.

"Hiya, Sally," Duo grinned, sending a wink her way as he popped open the tailgate mid-rock. Another brown-haired young man stumbled out of the passenger side, but Sally wasn't about to take her attention away from her patient, who was already being gathered up by Quatre. Duo grabbed the tall young man's legs, and together they carefully lifted him into Sally's van.

"Five foot ten, possibly malnourished if I'm reading his bone structure right, patient appears to be comatose," Sally said automatically, already moving into the van behind them and feeling the young man's pulse. She nodded to herself. "Definite sedation, possibly fatal if symptoms spread into the nervous system."

"We found this," Quatre said simply, and handed her a glass syringe. Sally blinked at the strange, almost invisible warping in the glass near the plunger as her friend kept talking. "We're pretty sure it's whatever they stuck into his IV."

The doctor shook her head. It wasn't at anything in particular, just at the situation. "You certainly called the right doctor, Quatre," she sighed, and walked a bit deeper into the van to grab another glass syringe and a bottle of a light green liquid. At the look the Winner heir presumptive was giving her, she shrugged a bit guiltily. "…I freelance, after all. At least I have the exact antidote with me. It may have saved your friend's life."

"What's that mean?" Duo asked from where he leaned on the back of the van.

"It means she invented the poison, Duo," Quatre stated quietly, watching intently as Sally injected the antidote. "And that she does freelance work for OZ."

"They're a good bit of my paycheck, yes," Sally admitted.

"Then why are we trusting her?" the new brunet, the one sticking to Duo like taffy, asked coolly.

"Because she's pulled bullets out of me and set Quatre's broken bones and is an experienced, professional black-market doctor who knows not to ask too many questions unlike some people?" Duo replied easily. Refusing to blush or laugh at that, Sally just pulled out the needle, discarding the syringe and slapping a band-aid with a colorful pink bunny on the patient's arm.

"Who shot you?"

"_You've_ tried to, so does it really surprise you that others have actually done it?"

"In a word? Yes."

Sally's smirk came to the surface. "I see you made a new friend, Duo."

"Bit more than that, but yeah, you could say so," Duo smiled at her. It was that nice, contented, slightly giddy smile that Sally rarely saw, the one he got when talking about Helen or Maxwell but without the bitter, sorrowful edge in his eyes.

"So he'll be okay now then?" Quatre asked anxiously.

"Give him twenty minutes and he'll be running laps around the parking lot," Sally answered, checking the boy's pulse again.

"Why didn't you call her for me, then?" Duo's friend asked, almost sounding jealous.

"Did you WANT me to call OZ's favorite secret surgeon for you?"

"…no."

Sally grabbed her stethoscope, just to be sure the patient really was breathing safely.

"Thought not." Duo frowned. "Besides, it was just asphyxiation. You just needed to rest up and stuff."

"If anyone knows home remedies, it's Duo," Sally agreed, really looking at the other boy for the first time.

She dropped the stethoscope, mouth dropping open.

"Oh fuck," Duo hissed, and hoisted himself into the van, slapping a hand over her mouth before she could scream, talk, even mutter.

Dr. Heero Yuy, PhD, was right behind him, closing the van's double doors behind him and staying at a cautious distance from her.

"Promise you won't flip out if I move my hand?" Duo asked quietly. "He's not gonna hurt anyone in here. He's a friend, and he's proven his loyalty to us more than you can imagine."

Sally's phone went off.

"He's waking up!" Quatre whispered excitedly from where he sat next to Trowa.

It rang again, a cheerful yet business-like tone that echoed through the stuffy van.

"Let her answer it," Heero stated.

Duo barely hesitated, stepping back and dropping his hand, leaving Sally staring at HEERO YUY in her VAN, until the phone rang once more.

"Better answer," Duo said, eyes slightly dangerous.

She nodded, and snatched up her cell phone. She cleared her throat. "Po speaking."

"Ah, Dr. Po. Are you busy at the moment?" The voice was unmistakable. Ice gripped her lungs in a tight vice.

"Actually, I just finished with a client," she said, amazed at how easily her voice came out when it felt like her throat was closing up. "What can I help you with?"

"A simple retrieval is all," the caller said, voice utterly devoid of any remorse. "I'm afraid there's been a bit of an accident over here. I'd greatly appreciate your help in moving it."

"How much appreciation are we talking, and how many am I moving?" Sally asked.

"Just one mess, and not a very big one at that," he sighed over the phone. "As for appreciation, well…I'd assume it would be the same as any OZ client, wouldn't it?"

"It costs extra to put people in my van when they're already dead," the doctor stated, and barely covered her own mouth in time as the antidote allowed her patient to open up very familiar emerald eyes.

_-The scent of spring rain on a field of grass. _

_Soft tufts of brown hair that swayed in the breeze right along with those ridiculous star earrings._

"_Triton, don't ruin your jumper just yet – you know I don't get another paycheck until Friday-"_

Catherine Bloom's dead green eyes stared up at her from her little brother's face.

"-believe I can find that acceptable," Treize said into the phone.

"I'll be bringing my surgery crew though," Sally said, eyes locked with those of a limitless debt. "If you want me over there this soon, I won't have anywhere to drop them off before I head to the OZ building. Normally I'd charge you for their time, but you're not asking for medical help."

"I'll add a tip anyway, considering the inconvenience of my timing," Khushrenada said charitably.

"Thank you, Treize," she said. "I'm sure they'll appreciate it." Her eyes fell to the GPS mounted where the van's CD player used to be. She could get to the building in 20 minutes. "I'll be around the back in half an hour. You know the drill by now, I guess."

"Of course. Thank you again," Treize said, and they both hung up.

While the others in the van stood staring at her, breathless, Sally heaved a huge sigh, running the back of her hand against her forehead, closing her eyes for just a moment before opening them again, looking at Triton Bloom.

"I don't suppose there's any way you could forgive me for Catherine's death," Sally said hoarsely. "I just wasn't there in time. I'm sorry, Triton, I'm so sorry they took your sister from you, and I can guess why they poisoned you now."

"My name is Trowa now," Triton said quietly, and glanced toward the other brunets in the van. "And there's more reason than one. I doubt OZ even knows who Catherine Bloom was anymore."

Sally practically strangled her phone. "Well, I damn well remember her, and if I can help you get back at them, you bet your ass I will," she hissed out, and then twisted to open an overhead compartment, grabbing four sets of blue scrubs and surgical gear and tossing them to the boys. "We're picking up a body at OZ, inc. If you're blowing the building up, Tri-Trowa, just give me enough time to get out of the blast radius."

"We're not blowing it up," Trowa said, sitting up fully with help from an absorbed Quatre. The blond hung on every word of the conversation.

"Then what's Dr. Explosives doing in this operation?" Sally frowned. "Honestly I'm glad you met a nice guy like Quatre here, and I guess Duo's okay too-"

"-HEY!"

"-but…Heero Yuy? The only conclusion I can draw is that braid-boy here was dragged in, and you dragged Quatre, which means Quatre dragged Duo."

"Actually, I was the one who dragged Heero," Trowa said, smiling slightly. "He's my best friend and co-worker."

"And we're trying to get into OZ, inc to get a friend out," Quatre added. "He's being held captive by Treize himself."

"Annoying, Chinese, likes to cuss and stab things," Duo added helpfully as he shrugged into the blue-green shirt.

Sally sighed, squeezing herself into the driver's seat. "I'm guessing he comes from _your_ little group of friends then, Duo?"

"No," Heero said, voice firm. "He's _our_ friend."

The others nodded silently.

Sally shook her head, and started the car. "I can only get you to the back door. I'd try and help you some other way, but I can't afford to die just yet. Too many lives to save."

"You didn't save Catherine," Trowa said simply, his calm voice a brutally harsh slap in the face.

She didn't say a word. She couldn't. So instead, she quietly clambered into the driver's seat and turned on the engine.

"Thank you," Quatre said sincerely, already fully decked out in scrubs and surgical gear.

If it were anyone but Catherine's brother, she would have just given them directions to the building and wished them good luck. For Quatre, she would have told them about the OZ job. But for Triton Bloom, she would step in front of a bullet that she should have stopped inside a dark green barn a long, long time ago.

"There's some bloody rags in the corner bin," Sally said, already starting them on the eerily quiet journey. "Make it look like you really did just get out of emergency surgery, or you'll all be dead before the doors open."

The twenty minutes passed in a silent journey, the doctor easily making her way through downtown traffic and into OZ, inc's service area. She backed the van in without having to use anything other than her side-view mirror.

Treize was already waiting for her, looking as sophisticated as ever in a dark blue suit. All alone on the loading dock, he stood at the entrance with his arms crossed over his chest, that thin, all-knowing smile on his lips.

Sally motioned for the boys in the back to wait a little while as she opened the driver's door, nodding brusquely to Treize as she walked up the stairs that lined the back of her truck with the large concrete slab which Treize stood on. "Khushrenada," she said politely, nodding and stuffing her hands into the pockets of her coat.

"Doctor Po," he said, cordial as ever, and the doors behind him swung open, leaving Sally to stare at the trainwreck that was about to run straight into the back of her truck.

Zechs Marquis and Lady Une escorted the two lackies that held Hilde's body between them like a limp carpet. Behind those four strode a cold-eyed snake of a young man with pitch-black hair and eyes.

Chinese? Check.

The young man sidled over to Treize out of what seemed pure habit, Une and Zechs flanking them as the lackies knocked on the van doors. One of the boys (Heero, she guessed, from the eyes) swung the doors open and froze at the dead girl's face angled straight at him.

"What the fuck is the hold-up? Get the bitch out of here already," the young man snarled, stuffing his hands into the loose white pants he wore.

Annoying and likes to curse? Check.

"Barton," Yuy called quickly, and the other boy hoisted the body into the van, Heero shutting the doors quickly behind him.

The flickers of shock, hope, fear, and anxiety all played across the young man's face in rapid succession at the sound of Heero's voice, unnoticed by anyone but Sally.

Interesting friends they keep nowadays, Sally thought grimly.

"Perhaps a little respect for the dead would be in order," Treize said, glancing down and idly pushing a stray black hair back into place.

"If you're dead you can only respect someone's memory, not their corpse," Wufei said irritably.

"He's picked up some interesting beliefs during captivity," Zechs commented dryly.

Inside of the van, however, things were not so intellectual. Quatre stared at his friend's bloodless corpse as he clung to Trowa, and Heero was literally having to hold Duo back from the doors of the van. And at this rate, it looked like Duo was going to win, driven by adrenaline and grief alone.

To Duo, it didn't matter that the woman had nearly killed them all at some point or another. The past held a strong short leash around Duo's neck, and Heero wasn't sure he had the strength to hold him back for much longer.

"For fuck's sake, Heero, let me AT them," his voice choked out, hushed by the lump in his throat. "They MURDERED her, Heero, they fucking shot her in the head and starved her, now let me kill the bastard that did it-"

Duo's hand reached the latch, and the door barely popped open before Heero wrenched the other boy back into his lap, hugging him tightly.

Every single person in the van, however, went just as still and pale as Hilde as Wufei's voice echoed through the thin sliver of air let in by Duo's fumbling.

"Just because I shot her in the head doesn't mean I have to dress in black and go to her rainy funeral," Wufei called, sarcastic and bored. "That bitch was the reason I ended up captured. And if it hadn't been me, it definitely would have been someone else with a brain and a gun."

A sigh. "Well, that's all well and good, but I left Relena all alone in my office," a dusky voice called out. Zechs.

"Thank you again, Doctor Po," Treize said cordially, and the sound of retreating footsteps left them alone with a corpse, their thoughts, and their own rasping breath as the world came crashing down around them.

---

A/N: And, uh, I'll just be. Over here now. Hoping to not get murdered.

(_Danken Sie Gott für tod _"Thank God for death" in German. She's so dead on the inside she's already reverted to thinking and speaking in a native language she doesn't even remember is her birth-tongue. I'd planned to put a bit of Hilde-POV, but that might have made someone cry. Namely me. Because poor, poor Hilde.)


End file.
